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INTERNATIONAL MEMORIAL EDITION

LIFE OF

WILLIAM McKINLEY

OUR

MARTYRED PRESIDENT

WITH SHORT BIOGRAPHIES OF LINCOLN
AND GARFIELD, AND A COMPREHENSIVE
<*^LIFE OF PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT^yr^i

CONTAINING

The Masterpieces of McKinley's Eloquence, and a History of Anarchy,

its Purposes and Results.

EDITED BY

Rt. Rev. Samuel Fallows, LL. D.

The PersoJial Frie^id and Comrade of the Late President; Author of ''Life of Samuel

Adams," ''Synonyms and Antonyms,'' "Liberty and Union,'' "The

Popular and Critical Biblical Encyclopcedia," etc., etc.

ASSISTED BY AN ABLE CORPS OF CONTRIBUTORS

WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY

UNITED STATES SENATOR WM. E. MASON

SUPERBLY ILLUSTRATED
FROM

cHieHi^ei0.iH4yiNois

CAMPBELL'S ILLuc^ i wa i lD JOURNAL
CIJiCAGO, ILL

C2<

SAMUEIv FAIvIvOWS
CHICAGO, IIvLINOIS

PREFACE

The personal love of the author and editor of this work
for President McKinley is one of the main reasons which
has impelled him to give it to the public. For many years
he was acquainted with the President chiefly through a com-
mon relationship as army comrades. His respect, well-nigh
bordering on reverence, for Major McKinley, has been
heightened by increasing years. There was a steady growth
in beauty of feature and in v/isdom and power as advancing
positions of trust came to this illustrious man. He with the
upward rose and with the vastness grew. Every "king be-
coming grace of character" was found in him and was ex-
pressed in new and striking forms as occasion arose. The
magnificent eulogies which have been pronounced upon him,
touching every phase of his many-sided, matchless life, were
"but dull beside the truth."

The wonderful funeral accorded him, unprecedented in
the world's history, attests the hold he had upon the hearts
of his countrymen, and the spontaneous tributes of respect
from all quarters of the globe, evinced the well-nigh univer-
sal esteem with which he was regarded.

All that tongue or pen or art can do to perpetuate his
memory and widen the knowledge of his life and services
is the just demand of the American people.

His life was gentle, and the elements

So mix'd in him that 7iature mig^ht stand up

And say to all the world, ^'This was a man!*

iii

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Mr, William McKinley.

Mrs. William McKinley.

John Hay, Secretary of State.

John D. Long, Secretary of the Navy.

Lyman J. Gage, Secretary of the Treasury.

Elihu Root, Secretary of War.

Ethan A. Hitchcock, Secretary of the Interior.

James Wilson, Secretary of Agriculture.

James Emery Smith, Postmaster General.

P. C. Knox, Attorney General.

Mark Hanna.

James Abram Garfield, Assassmated m i8»i.

Abraham Lincoln, Assassinated in 1865.

The Capitol, Washington, D. C.

The Whitehouse, Washington, D. C.

The Milburn House, Buffalo.

McKinley Residence, Canton, Ohio.

Mrs. Wm. McKinley, Mother of the President.

Mr. Abner McKinley.

Rt. Rev. Samuel Fallows, D. D., LL. D.

Brevet Brigadier General Samuel Fallows.

President Roosevelt.

Mrs. Roosevelt.

President Roosevelt's Children.

United States Senator Wm. E. Mason.

President McKinley and the Spanish War Cabinet.

President Lincoln and his Cabinet.

Assassination Scene.

The Last Farewell.

The Receiving Vault.

Birthplace of McKinley.

The Emergency Hospital, Buffalo.

Leaving Milburn Residence for City Hall, Buffalo.

Arrival of the Funeral Train at Canton, Ohio, from Washington.

(iv)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGES

Chapter I. — The Story of the Assassination of President McKinley— Leon
Czolgosz Shoots the President — Seizure of the Murderer — Subsequent Care
of the President, Etc. — McKinley's Fight for Life — At the Milburn House —
Favorable Reports of the Surgeons — The Joyful News Widely Spread — The
Sudden Relapse, Etc. — Deathbed Scene of the President— Hymn Chanted
by McKinley— Last Interview With Mrs. McKinley— The President's Last
Words 13-26

Chapter H. — Funeral Processions and Rites. — Funeral of the President —
Services at Buflfalo — The Funeral Procession to Washington — Services in
Washington — Sermon by Bishop Andrews, Etc. — Funeral Services at Can-
ton, Ohio. — Address by Rev. Dr. Manchester. — Prayer by Rev. Father
Battman, Chaplain at Fort Sheridan, Illinois — The Interment — The Presi-
dent's Surgeons 27-44

Chapter III. — Expressive Tributes from Foreign Lands — London — Westmin-
ster Abbey — Sorrow of the Press — Telegram from King Edward VII. —
Birmingham — T. P. O'Connor — Redmond — The London Times — Canadian
Demonstration — Duke of York — Mexico — Santiago — Perto Rico — Germany
— Telegram from Emperor William — Paris — St. Petersburg — Russian Press
— Brussels — Vienna — Etc 44-57

Chapter IV. — Tributes from Eminent Americans — Homage of a Great City —
Eulogies of ex-President Cleveland — William Jennings Bryan — Cardinal
Gibbons — Archbishop Ireland — Senator Shelby M. Cullom — Secretary John
D. Long — Justice David Brewer — Resolutions in Paris Framed by General
Horace Porter and Senator Henry Cabot Lodge — Rev. H. W. Thomas,
D. D. — Ex-Congressman Geo. E. Adams — Father Kelly — Andrew D.
White — Senator Hoar — Grand Army Tribute — Mankind at Salute — Bishop
B. W. Arnett — Bishop Galloway — Order of the Loyal Legion — Silence.
the Hushed and Solemn Tribute of a Great City — Incidents, Etc 58-81

Chapter V. — Life of William McKinley — Early Manhood — War Record — Law-
yer and Politician 86-97

Chapter VI. — His Last Term in Congress — Record on the Tariff 98-107

Chapter VII — Governor of Ohio 108-114

Chapter VIII. — Financial Troubles— Loyalty to Friends, Blaine, Sherman,

Harrison 115-122

Chapter IX.— Great Campaign of 1894 123-130

Chapter X. — Nominated for President — The St. Louis Convention, June 16,
1896— Thos. B. Reed— Senator William B. Allison— Levi P. Morton— Gen-
eral Russell B. Alger — Hon. Thos. Henry Carter — Rabbi Samuel Sale —
Hon. Charles W. Fairbanks— Rev. Dr. W. G. Williams— Bishop Arnett—
Hon. John Grant — Higgins Delegates — Addicks Delegates — M. B. Madden

(V)

vi Table of Contents

PAGES

—Rev. John R. Scott— Senator-Elect Foraker— Reading of the Platform-
Senator Teller— Substitute for Coinage Paragraph— Voting on the Para-
graph—Senator Cannon— Withdrawal of the Silver Delegates— Nomination
of Senator W. B. Allison— Of Thomas B. Reed— Of Governor Levi P.
Morton— Nomination of William McKinley by Governor Foraker— Stirring
Scenes— Nomination Seconded by Senator Thurston— McKinley Nominated
President and Garret A. Hobart Vice President 131-140

Chapter XL— First Presidential Campaign— McKinley informed of nomina-
tion by Senator Thurston— William Jennings Bryan the Democratic Nom-
inee for President— Greatest Campaign of the Country— Joseph C. Sibley—
Senator Julius C. Burrows— Senator Hanna 141-151

Chapter XIL— President of the United States— Inaugural Address— The
Cabinet— Readjustment of the Tariff— The War With Spain— The Finan-
cial Record— Summary of the First McKinley Administration 152-155

Chapter XIIL— The President's Own Story of the Spanish War: Spain
Given Time to Settle Trouble— Destruction of the Maine— Efforts to Avert
War Prove Vain— Congress Takes Decisive Action— Formal Declaration
of War— Recruiting Armj and Navy— Nation Takes War Bonds — Dewey's
Great Victory — Campaign in Cuba Reviewed — Sinking of the Merrimac —
Destruction of Cervera's Fleet — Occupation of Porto Rico — Last Battle of
the War — Losses of Army and Navy — Signing of the Protocol — Cessation
of Strife — Work of Evacuation 156-174

Chapter XIV. — Chronological Events of the Spanish-American War — The

Treaty of Paris — Loss and Cost of the War to Both Nations i/S-iSi

Chapter XV. — Country Expands and Becomes a World Power — Annexation
from 1783 to 1893 — Annexation from 1893 to 1901 — President Dole and the
Hawaiian Islands — Porto Rico — The Philippines— There to Preserve Peace
— What the Commissioners Found — The Rebellion Must be Put Down^
Work of Reconstruction — Government Established in Negros — Voting in —
A few words about Sulu — Freedom of Slaves in Jolo — Winning the Fili-
pinos, Etc. — Our Flag Waves in Blessing 182-195

Chapter XVI. — ]\Ieets the Crisis in China — Officials Culpable — American
Relations with China — Early Negotiations Successful — Man the Leader —
Murder of Von Ketteler — Quotes Conger's Report — Imperial Troops Guilty
— United States Policy Unchanged — Must Punish Culprits .....196-205

Chapter XVII. — Renominated and Re-elected President — Convention in Phila-
delphia Met June 19, 1900 — Senator Wolcott — Senator Henry Cabot Lodge
— Senator Foraker, Etc. — McKinley Nominated President — Great Enthu-
siasm— Governor Theodore Roosevelt Nominated Vice President — William
Jennings Bryan Nominated by the Democrats for President — McKinley
Elected 205-211

Chapter XVIII. — Anecdotes and Incidents in McKinley's Life — Respect
for the Sabbath — Sunday Before Inauguration — Meeting a Crisis on a Bat-
tle Field — McKinley's Fir.st Law Case — Made a Minister Out of a Bad Page
— His Popularity with the Newsboys — Duty to Country Above Self — The
President Could Afford to Keep a Cow — The President's Title — The Hap-
piest Man in the Country — His Quiet Methods of Disapproval — The Presi-

Table of Contents vii

PAGES

dent Proves His Methodism— Places Flowers in the Hand of Toil— A
Page's Sympathy Wins Him Favor— Service to a Political Opponent— Mc-
Kinley's Courtship— The Oft-Repeated Salute— The President's Devotion
to His Mother— His Tender Solicitude for His Wife— One Day at a Time-
Dwelling Together in Unity — Beloved by His Cabinet and Desirous of
Doing What is Right— Faithful in Attendance upon Church— Closing Inci-
dents in McKinley's Life, Etc 212-226

Chapter XIX.— Chronological Record of the Life of President William Mc-

Kinley 227-231

Chapter XX.— Masterpieces of William McKinley's Eloquence: The Re-
publican Part> — The McKinley Tariff of 1890— The Black Color-Bearer—
The American Workingman— The Eight Hour Law— Education and Citi-
zenship—An Auxiliary to Religion— Prosperity and Politics— Gems of
Patriotic Expression 232-251

Chapter XXI. — William McKinley's Masterpieces of Eloquence Continued
— Memorial Day Address : The American Volunteer Soldier — Ulysses S.
Grant— Address at the Dedication of the Grant Monument— John A. Logan. 252-270

Chapter XXII. — William McKinley's Masterpieces of Eloquence— Con-
tinued— July Fourth at Woodstock — Business Men in Politics — Address at
the Trans-Mississippi Exposition at Omaha, Nebraska — Speech in the
Coliseum, St. Louis, ]\Iissouri— Speech at First Regiment Armory, Chi-
cago—Speech at the Auditorium, Atlanta, Georgia— American Womanhood
— Estimate of the Constitution of the United States— Last Public Address
at the Pan-American Exposition— Golden Sayings of McKinley 271-294

Chapter XXIIL— Abraham Lincoln— Life Described by William McKinley—
He Disdained no Human Being— A Democrat, Like Franklin— Grew
Steadily to Meet His Task— Great Orator and Popular Leader— His Rivals
Become His Ministers— He Pleaded First for Peace— His Emancipation
Proclamation— He Saw the Purposes of God — Value of the Black Soldiers
—Immortal Gettysburg Speech— Used Power With Moderation— Clearly
the Greatest Man of His Time— Wise Words for the Present Day, Etc.—
Will Uphold American Labor— Party Will Hold to Lincoln's Advice-
Washington and Lincoln— Ultimate Test of His Greatness 295-316

Chapter XXIV. — Abraham Lincoln — Continued — Politician Assassination —

Stories— Final Burial— Chronology 317-332

Chapter XXV. — James A. Garfield — Sketch of Garfield's Life- by William
McKinley — Garfield in the Civil War — Chronological Events of Garfield's
Life— Death-bed Scenes of Presidents Lincoln and Garfield Contrasted 333-2431

Chapter XXVI.— Theodore Roosevelt— Birth, Political History and War
Experience. — Roosevelt, the Assistant Secretary of the Navy — Preparations
for War, Etc • 344-359

Chapter XXVIL— Theodore Roosevelt— Governor, Vice President— Anecdotes
And Incidents— Administration as Governor— Roosevelt as Vice President
—Marriage and Children— Author— In the Pulpit— Ideas of Honesty-
Police Commissioner— Thoughts as a Boy— Qualities of Rough Riders-
True Americanism— Advice to Young Men— Love of Athletic Sports-
Cordial and Approachable— Interest in Animals— Tenacity— An Exciting
Occasion— A Thrilling Lion Hunt— Civil Service— Friendliness 3^-373

• ■ •

viii Table of Contents

PAGES

Chapter XXVIII.— Theodore Roosevelt— Addresses and Tributes to His
Character— The Strenuous Life— The American Need of a Strong Navy—
The Rough Riders— Address at the Minneapolis State Fair of Minnesota,
Minneapolis, September 2, igoi— Tributes to the Character of Roosevelt—
The Christian Endeavor World— The North Western Christian Advocate—
The Daily Graphic— The London Morning Post— The Post-Standard—
The London Daily Mail — The London Globe — Beliner Neuscte Nachricten
—The National Zeitung— Chicago Record-Herald— Bishop Fallows— Har-
per's Weekly 374-404

Chapter XXIX— Anarchy— Its Origin, Purposes and Results— Notable As-
sassinations—Haymarket Square Murder, Chicago— Herbert Spencer— Herr
Most— Opinions of Eminent Men— Senator Dolinger— Governor Yates—
Rt. Rev. Samuel Fallows— Mayor David Rose— Edgar A. Bancroft— General
John C. Black— Rev. Rufus A. White— Resolutions of the Marquette Club,
Chicago— Resolutions of the Associated Press, New York City— Theodore
B. Thiele— Rt. Rev. Charles Edward Cheney— President M. Woolsey Stry-
ker— Hon. George R. Peck— Senator J. P. Dolliver— Rev. Thomas E. Mason
—Justice David Brewer— Rev. T. W. Gunsaulus— The Pope of Rome— The
Nachrichten of Berlin— The Manchester Guardian— Labouchere— Opinions
of the Law Makers, Etc.— Editorials of Many Leading Journals, Etc 405-438

Chapter XXX. — Trial and Condemnation of the Assassin 439-448

Chapter XXXI.— The Execution and Last Moments of the Assassin 449-45-2

Chapter XXXIL— The Nation's Man— The Great Speech of Senator J. N.

Thurston at the St. Louis Convention, June 17, 1896— Close of the Book. . .453-457

INTRODUCTION

By Hon. William E. Mason, United States Senator from

Illinois

I have been requested to write a;i introduction to this work and
refer to the great crime of anarchy and give utterance to a few words
of heartfelt appreciation of th.e hfe and services of our noble martyred
chief, President McKinley.

I hope and pray that in the Congress of the United States there
will be a man with brains and genius enough to draft a law that will
teach the people that there is no room within the borders of this great
nation for the flag of anarchy. It must die, and it wih die. I think
if no other lesson has been taught by the horrible deed wiiich has cast
an affliction upon this entire country, the 77,000,000 people which
comprise it have registered a vow that anarcliy is w^orse than treason
and must be stamped out at any cost.

There ought to be greater protection against the vile reptiles of
anarchy in this country. I have often talked with Mr. McKinley
on this subject and urged that he secure better protection for himself,
but it was of no avail. He would not have it that way. He always
said it w^as too much like royalty; that he was in a free country and
he wanted to be just like any other citizen. If he had been forced
to have five or six guards this dastardly deed could never have been
committed. This should be regulated by Congress. It is the only
way to safeguard the country, for the president is the real and true
representative of the country.

Lincoln was assassinated by a man who was an avowed enemy.
When Garfield was assassinated it was at a time when party politics
were running high. But here in the shadow of peace, with the country
brim full of prosperity, a war peaceably over with, and conditions
most favorable to tranquillity, there is the school of anarchy with its

X Introduction

doctrines taught in public places, and this vile reptile, one of its adher-
ents, springing from the nests of anarchy in Chicago, where it is taught
that it is right to kill the ruler, becomes the assassin of our beloved
president — a man far above reproach and criticism even by his bit-
terest political enemies.

But the genius of government is too strong for anarchy. Even
the gates of hell cannot prevail against it. With all its faults, it is
still the best. We can look at other nations even with our president
struck down and say that we have the best government.

He was the gentlest man I ever knew. The greatest men are the
gentlest. With the president the more power he had the more gentle
and considerate he became. In disagreements of any kind he always
left his hand extended and his heart open. He was clean and fair
in debate and never spoke an unkind word of an opponent. His clothes,
too, were always remarkably neat and clean, like his character.

At public receptions royalty of other countries, with gold lace and
other accouterments, was present, and I would look into the pale,
noble face of .the president and thank God that I was an American and
that McKinley was president.

He never feared assault. He had supreme confidence in his own
being that kept him from fearing anarchy. I find the great men are
the most gentle. The strong man speaks not widely of his power
— the more power you give him the more cautious he is in the exer-
cise of it. I did not always agree with him in matters of policy, but
he nevertheless always left his heart open and his hand out. I never
heard him complain of anyone. He never spoke ill of his enemies.
He never changed. Some men are frivolous in public office, but Major
McKinley always maintained dignity. In his debates he never con-
cealed a fact; no word ever passed his lips that did not come from
the depths of his heart.

He loved truth, he loved geniality, he loved his home, he loved
his wife — in brief, he loved all that was pure and good. If all other
characteristics had been forgotten, if his record as a soldier and a
president were not sufficient, and if he had done nothing for human-
ity, the picture of his devotion to his invalid wife alone has done enough
to teach us loyalty to our homes and families.

Introduction xi

DEARLY LOVED NATURE.

McKinley loved children — he loved flowers, he loved nature, he
was more generous in giving the public a chance to see him and speak
to him than anyone I ever knew in similar position. I never saw him
when he did not say a few kind words to a child and take the trouble
to pluck a flower. He was doing this at the very moment he was
shot. If he had not turned to wave a last farewell to a little girl he
mieht have seen the assassin in time to save him from the murderous
assault.

Look at the picture of that grand man in his devotion to his Invalid
wife and see him kneeling by his aged mother's deathbed. If we knew
nothing more of President McKinley than this it would be enough to
make him a prince of men.

CHAPTER I.

The Assassination of President McKinley.

It was President's Day at the Pan-American Exposition at Buffalo.
Flags were flying, banners waving, and the strains of martial music were
in the air. The prismatic towers of the Rainbow City shone against a
sky as blue as the far-famed heavens of Italy.

The chief executive of the United States delivered a masterly address
to the assembled thousands, moving his audience as only the gifted orator
may. At its close the cheers broke forth and lasted several minutes. It
was a personal triumph which amounted to an ovation.

As the last lights sank to dimness and the tired throng went home,
all seemed well. Peace and content lay upon the exposition which typified
the progress of the Americas. There was no hint of the blow which
was soon to fall.

The following day, William McKinley, president of the United
States, went to the exposition as a guest. Arrangements had been made
for a public reception at the Temple of Music, one of the most spacious
buildings in the grounds.

Promptly at half past three, in the afternoon of September 6,
President McKinley, accompanied by the president of the exposition,
John G. Milburn, Secretary Cortelyou and a guard of detectives, arrived
at the railroad depot on the grounds. Two minutes before four o'clock,
the hour appointed for the reception, his carriage drew up at the entrance
to the Temple.

Twenty thousand people were gathered in and around the building,
and as the president bowed to the right and to the left, a great shout of
welcome went up on every side. The organ in the Temple broke into the
stirring strains of the national air, and the crowd fell back from the door-
way through which the chief was to pass.

Inside the Temple a space had been made in the center of the floor for
the president to stand and greet the thousands who were waiting to grasp
his hand.

Perhaps a hundred men, women and children had gone slowly up the
long aisle and looked into the kindly face that met each one with a smile.
Then there was a break in the line and a rush of exposition guards toward
the door through which the crowds were entering.

14 Life of William McKinley

At the moment a woman was standing before Mr. McKinley. The
trouble at the door apparently subsided and the woman gave way to a
well dressed man. He grasped the president's hand warmly and spoke a
few words, then the crowd pushed him on.

The next was a burly colored man, whom the President greeted with
the same smile Secret Service Agents Foster and Ireland were standing
directly across from the president, closely scanning each man and woman
passing along in the line.

When the next man appeared, the government officers saw before
them a quietly-dressed, intelligent appearing young man with reddish
hair and smooth shaven cheeks. His right hand was thrust beneath the
lapel of his coat and a handkerchief was wrapped about it in such a way
as to give the impression that the hand had been injured.

The man turned his eyes squarely upon the president's face and ex-
tended his left hand.

Mr. McKinley observed that the man before him was offering his
left hand instead of his right, and his eyes wandered to the hand thrust
beneath the coat. Then his own right hand closed about the fingers of
the man who, like Judas, was to betray him.

The touch of Mr. McKinley's hand seemed to rouse the man to action.
He leaned suddenly forward, at the same time holding the president's
hand in a vise-like hold. He drew Mr, McKinley the barest trifle toward
him and the right hand flashed from beneath the coat lapel.

The hand and fingers were hidden by the folds of the handkerchief.
The man thrust the hand fairly against the president's breast and pulled
the trigger of the weapon that the white bit of cloth was hiding.

Two pistol shots rang out sharply and echoed back from the walls of
the Temple. President McKinley dropped the man's hand and stag-
gered back. Upon his face was a look of angry surprise.

Secretary Cortelyou and President Milburn, who were standing a
little behind him, caught him as he was falling and drew him into a
chair. The president's first words were : "May God forgive him."

At the sound of the shots Detective Ireland of the secret service
force leaped upon the man like a tiger and close behind him came the
colored man who had just shaken hands with the president. They
were struggling with him on the floor when the president reached the
chair. Turning his head to Detective Gerry, another member of his
bodyguard, he asked :

"Am I shot?"

He had evidently been so stunned by surprise that he had not felt
the impact of the bullets. Meanwhile Secretary Cortelyou had torn
open the president's vest. Blood was on his shirt front, and Detective

Our Martyred President 15

Gerry, answering his question, said: "I fear you are, Mr. President."

Secretary Cortelyou sank on one knee at the side of the president
and looked anxiously into his face.

"Do not be alarmed," said the president, "it is nothing." Then his
head sank forward into his hands for a moment, but he raised it, de-
spite the stream of crimson which came from the wound in his breast
and spread in an ever widening circle on his white shirt front.

"But you are wounded," exclaimed Mr. Cortelyou; "let me examine."

"No_, no," insisted the president, "I am not badly injured, I assure
you."

The guards were driving the crowds out of the building. Mr. Cor-
telyou asked the president if he felt any pain. Mr. McKinley slipped
his hand through his shirt front and pressed his fingers against his
breast.

"I feei a sharp pain here," he said. Then, as he withdrew his hand
and saw blood dripping from his finger tips, he compressed his lips
tightly, then turned to those about him and said, in a whisper :

"I trust Mrs. McKinley will not be informed of this. At least
try to see that what she must know of it be not exaggerated in the
telling."

Mr. McKinley's head sank back on the chair and he seemed to be
drowsy. Tears filled the eyes of those who were watching at his side,
but there was not a sound to break the dead silence that had followed
his last utterance.

Then there was a commotion just outside the little circle, and Min-
ister Aspiroz, of Mexico, forced his way to a place close beside Mr.
McKinley, crying: "O God, Mr. President, are you shot?"

Mr. McKinley roused himself and smiled sadly. "Yes — I believe
I — am," he gasped. His head sank back again but only for a moment.
Suddenly straightening up in his chair, he gripped the arms tightly and
thrust his feet- out in front of him with a quick, nervous movement.
Thus he sat, with his lips tightly closed, an example of superb self-
control, until the ambulance arrived.

When the secret service men and the colored man first threw them-
selves upon the assassin, pinning him to the floor, lest he should try to
use the revolver again, twenty more men hurled themselves upon the
scrambling quartet and buried him from sight. Every man in that
struggling, crazy throng was striving to get hold of the assassin, to
strike him, to rend him, to wreak upon him the mad fury which pos-
sessed them the instant they realized what he had done.

The greater part of the crowd was stunned for an instant by the
enormity of the crime they witnessed, but when the reaction came they

i6 Life of William McKinley

surged forward like wild beasts, the strongest pushing the weakest aside
and forcing themselves forward to where the prisoner was held by his

captors.

A tumult of sound filled the place— a hollow roar at first, punctuated
by the shrieks of women and swelling into a medley of yells and curses.

A little force of exposition guards, penned in by the clamoring
mob, fought desperately to hold their prisoner from the blood-thirsty

crowd.

They had him, safe and fast. His revolver had been wrenched from
him in the instant that Detective Ireland fell upon him, and he was
helpless, bruised and bleeding. His face was cut when he was thrown
to the floor and a dozen eager hands had struck at him and reached
him over the heads of the officers.

Slowly, very slowly, the little force of police made way through
the crowd, dragging the prisoner between them. They were deter-
mined there should be no lynching.

From outside the building, where the news had spread from lip to
lip, still other thousands were endeavoring to get in. More police
came plunging into the crowd from headquarters, where the direful
news had sped. They hurled themselves upon the swaying mob, they
struck and pushed and shouted commands. Massing their men where
they could best handle the excited crowd, they cleared a passage to one
of the doors for the bearing away of the president, and on the stretcher
of an ambulance which had come clanging to the door, he was tenderly
carried from the building and bornn in the ambulance to the emergency
hospital, near the service building, in the exposition grounds.

Through the crowd the policemen dragged their prisoner, until they
reached a little room just off the west stage of the Temple of Music.
His face was still bleeding from the blows given him by the negro,
Parker, who had cried, as he was torn away from him, "Oh, only for
ten seconds more !"

Once inside the little room, the door was closed with a bang, but
the mob, with its blind impulse, surging against the building, fairly
made the walls creak.

The scene in the little room was all confusion. Officers were hur-
rying in and out. Some were trying to conceal the fact that the man
was there, and others betrayed it in a loud voice as soon as they left
the room. One excited exposition official called upon the people to
"go in and get the man."

In the room with the prisoner were nine officers. He was hurled
upon a table and sat there, putting his sleeve to his lips at intervals, look-
ing at the floor, and nervously rubbing his shoes together. Now and

MRS. WILLIAM McKINLEY

Our Martyred President 17

then he breathed deeply from nervous agitation, but he did not speak.

Outside the building couid be seen the tumultuous throng of people.
From all parts of the grounds they had come to the common center.
Now and then some man's voice would call out: "Don't let him get
away," and there would be a score of answering shouts of "Kill him!"
"Hang him!" "Get a rope!" "Take him up on the arch and burn
him!"

An automobile mail v/agon, only the top of which was visible above
the crowd, appeared between the Temple and the Government Building.
The angry crowd thought it was coming for the prisoner.

"Guard the doors and stop that wagon !" a man shouted. The
wagon was stopped, but proceeded by a circuitous route a few moments
later.

Around the main door was a squad of policemen. Then a detach-
ment of marines arrived, under command of Captain Leonard. They
formed in line. Then in a loud, clear tone which penetrated far into
the crowd, came the order : "Load rifles !"

The breeches clicked and the men held up to plain view the hard
steel and the encasing brass as they filled their rifles with cartridges.

The moral effect was obvious, for the women started a movement
to draw back and the great impulse of vengeance seejiied broken. Men
and women who had been dry-eyed began to cry.

The lips of the marines were twitching, but the heads on the broad
shoulders were motionless, as the breath was held firm and steady. So
men look when facing a mighty duty with a mighty heart.

The little room where the prisoner was held contained a quantity of
rope, which was used for shutting off the esplanade at time of drill and
special festivities. "Rope off the south approaches to the building so
we can get the w'agon in here," said Colonel Byrne.

"You will never get that wagon forty feet with him in it," said
Detective Ireland. "We must have a carriage and horses. The peo-
ple can stop an automobile better than they can horses."

Some distance away was the carriage in which part of the com-
mittee had come to the Temple of Music. On the box was a little coach-
man. As he received his orders and w^as told that his carriage was
to take the prisoner away, he smiled. "xA.ll right," he said.

"Gentlemen," said the leader inside, "every moment of this delay
is making matters worse. The crowd is getting more and more worked
up and it is getting bigger. It reaches way out over the esplanade now.
Give this man to me and I give you my word I will get him to Buffalo,
Here are two Buffalo officers who will go with me."

"The best plan is to jump him right into this carriage and get him

i8 Life of William McKinley

right out of here," said Detective Ireland. The mihtary guards were
immediately informed of the plans.

The roped off space was sufficient to admit the carriage, and the
commander of the exposition police gave the signal. A guard led
the way, there was a guard on each side of the prisoner and two fol-
lowed him. The coachman whipped up his horses and dashed to tlie
door. The marines and artillerymen dropped their guns until the bay-
onets were at charge. As the carriage drew up a policeman swung
open its door. At the same time, the door of the little room opened,
and out came the prisoner, with his guards.

He was literally hurled into the carriage by the policemen. The
crowd surged to the door, yelling: "Here he comes!" "This door!"
"This door!" The lines of soldiers swayed, but did not break.

"There he is! There he is! Kill him! Kill him!" came from a thou-
sand throats. "Don't let that carriage get away, you cowards !" "Kill
him!" "Kill him!" "Kill the bloody anarchist!"

It was a bedlam of curses and yells from people fighting to get
closer, waving their fists, with here and there a revolver gleaming in the
sun. The roar of the mob was a thing never to be forgotten. It liad
the deadly, intense growl, the wild, blood-thirsty shriek and the rau-
cous, savage note, that is not heard once in a generation.

As the carriage moved away, a policeman swung himself to the
seat beside the coachman. As the wheels moved beyond the rope, men,
and even women, sprang forward, caught at the wheels and clutched
at the horses' harness. The driver had a whip with a long lash which he
played alternately upon the horses and the faces of the crowd.

Once, as the carriage neared the Triumphal Causeway, the crush
became too dense to pass through. Strong limbed, angry men were
in pursuit behind and it looked as if the carriage was to be stopped in
front. The coachman smiled and, standing up, sped his long lash out
over the horses' heads. . They increased their speed to a gallop, and the
crowd parted.

Once on the causeway all was well, for the outer limits of the
crowd had been reached, and the narrowness of the way beyond, as
well as the downward slope of the road, facilitated movement. The
crowd gave up its pursuit and the carriage speedily went to the Lincoln
Park gateway, which swung open as it drew near. From this point
straight down Delaware avenue, the journey was little interrupted.

The prisoner, from the moment he had touched the cushions of the
carriage had cowered in the corner, now and then raising his head as
he looked out of the windows. When he heard the awful impreca-
tions as the mob struggled to get near enough to take vengeance con-

Our Martyred President 19

vulsive shivers ran through his slender body and his eyes rolled wide
with terror. His lips were dry and parched and he moistened them
constantly with his tongue.

As the carriage passed the Milburn residence, the guard who was
nearest him looked up at the front of the house in which Mrs. McKin-
ley lay asleep, and, clutching his club closer in his hand, turned upon
the prisoner a look which made him cower deeper in the cushions

Just south of Utica street, the carriage met a light police wagon,
in which was Superintendent Bull, who turned and followed the car-
riage down to headquarters at Station No. i. There the carriage drew
up sharply and the prisoner was taken in, while a score of idlers, always
about, looked on with bare interest.

A moment later bicyclists who were following told them the Presi-
dent had been shot and the man who had done it was the prisoner who
had just been taken in.

The news spread rapidly. When bulletins began to appear on the
boards along newspaper row and when the announcement was made
that the prisoner had been taken to police headquarters only two blocks
distant from the newspaper section, the crowed surged down toward the
Terrace, eager for a glimpse of the prisoner.

At police headquarters they were met by a strong cordon of police,
which was drawn across the pavement on Pearl street, and admittance
was denied to any but officials authorized to take part in the examina-
tion of the prisoner. In a few minutes the crowd had grown from
tens to hundreds, and these in turn quickly swelled to thousands, until
the street was completely blocked with a mass of humanity.

Some one raised the cry of "Lynch him !" Like a flash the cry was
echoed and re-echoed by the crowd, until it became an imperious de-
mand. The thousands surged forward.

The situation was becoming critical. Suddenly the doors were
flung open and a squad of reserves advanced with solid front to the
other side of the street. Gradually they were dispersed, but not before
the entire street in front of police headquarters had been roped off.

Liside the station house, the authorities were questioning the assassin.
He first gave his name as Fred Nieman, said his home was in Detroit
and that he had been in Buffalo about a week. He said he had been
boarding at a place in Broadway. Later, this place was located as John
Nowak's saloon, a Raines law hotel, at 1078 Broadway. Here the pris-
oner had occupied a room for about a week,

John Nowak, the proprietor, said he knew very little about the man.
He had been alone at all times and had had no visitors. In his room
was found a small traveling bag of cheap make, which contained only
an empty cartridge box and a few clothes.

20 Life of William McKinley

When he was first arrested, he answered a query as to his motive, by
saying: "I am an anarchist, and I cHd my duty." At headquarters he
denied that he was an anarchist, but would give no other reason for his
deed. He persistently refused to answer questions. With lips tightly
closed and with eyes upon the floor, he sat stolidly listening to the torrent
of questions poured upon him, and answered none of them after making
the first brief statements about his name and residence. Later, he con-
fessed that his name was Leon Czolgosz and that he was a disciple of
Emma Goldman, the anarchist.

Still later, he signed a confession which stated that he had no con-
federate, that he decided three days ago to commit the crime, and that he
had bought the revolver in Buffalo. He did not appear in the least de-
gree imeasy or penitent for his action, nor did he show any signs of in-
sanity.

In the meantime, the president was in the hospital. Probably it was
not more than five minutes from the time the shots were fired until the
examination by the surgeons had begun. They discovered that one bul-
let had entered the breast, striking the bone, then glanced aside, and the
other had struck the abdomen five inches below the left nipple and one
and a half inches to the left of the median line. The stomach lying di-
rectly under that spot, the gravest fears were entertained regarding the
consequences of that wound.

Dr. Roswell Park, an eminent surgeon, was immediately sent for.
About six o'clock he arrived at the hospital and with the assistance of Dr.
Mynter and several other surgeons, began a search for the ball. It was
found that the bullet had passed completely through the stomach, piercing
both walls, and had lodged somewhere in the back, but it could not be
found.

The surgeons abandoned the search for the bullet and closed the aper-
tures in the stomach with several stitches both in front and back. The
President was under an anaesthetic during the operation and within an
hour after it was over, he recovered from the effects of the opiate. It
was announced that he was resting easily and had a good chance for re-
covery. The principal danger, it was said, lay in the development of
peritonitis.

As soon as the surgeons made the announcement that the President
was in no immediate danger, President Milburn made arrangements to
have the patient removed to his house on Delaware avenue. The chief
of police immediately ordered the streets roped off, over which the ambu-
lance would pass, and stationed guards to prevent all other traffic.

An automobile ambulance was brought to the emergency hospital
and with the utmost care the President was removed to Mr. Milburn's

MRS. WILLIAM McKINLEY
Mother of the President

Our Martyred President 21

home. Police were placed on guard in all directions within a block
of the house, with orders that nothing be allowed to disturb the distin-
guished patient.

For two hours after the shooting, Mrs. McKinley was probably the
only one in Buffalo who knew nothing of it. She was at the home of
President Milburn, resting from the fatigue of the morning excursion
to Niagara. Realizing that to one in her delicate state of health the shock
might have serious effects, the physicians issued strict orders that she
was not to be told until the last possible moment.

She awoke from her sleep about half-past five. She was feeling well,
she said, and at once took up her crocheting, which is one of her favorite
diversions. She kept at it as long as it was light, remaining in her room.

When it became dusk and the President had not arrived, she grew
anxious concerning him. ''I wonder why he does not come," she said
to one of her nieces. There was no clock in her room, and it was seven
o'clock before she realized that it was so late. She now began to feel
very anxious, since she expected him at six o'clock.

At seven o'clock, Dr. Rixey, the family physician of President and
Mrs. McKinley, arrived at the Milburn residence. To him was assigned
the dreaded task of breaking the direful news to the invalid wife.

At half past seven he came out, and returned to the exposition grounds
in a carriage. He had broken the news most gently to Mrs. McKinley,
and said that she had borne up bravely. If it was possible to bring him
to her, she wanted it done. Dr. Rixey assured her that the president
could safely be removed, and he left Mr. Milburn's to personally super-
intend the arrangements.

The Milburn house was transformed into a bustling place almost
immediately upon the arrival of the ambulance bearing the wounded
President. While the sick room was absolutely quiet and no sound
penetrated its walls, the parlor below had been transformed into an
office, and two stenographers, with their typewriting machines, were
installed to answer the telegrams and letters which began to pour in.
Arrangements were made for telegraph wires to be placed in the house.

The first official bulletin regarding the condition of the President was
issued by Secretary Cortelyou at seven o'clock. He prefaced it with the
statement that it had been prepared by the physicians. It read thus :

"The President was shot about four o'clock. One bullet struck him
on the upper portion of the breast bone, glancing and not penetrating.
The second bullet penetrated the abdomen five inches below the left nip-
ple and one and one-half inches to the left of the median line.

"The abdomen was opened through the line of the bullet wound. It
was found that the bullet had penetrated the stomach. The opening in

22 Life of William McKinley

the front wall of the stomach was carefully closed with silk stitches, after
which a search was made for a hole in the back wall of the stomach.
This was found and closed in the same way.

"The further course of the bullet could not be discovered, although
careful search was made. The abdominal wound was closed without
drainage. No injury to the intestines or other abdominal organ was
discovered.

"The patient stood the operation well. Pulse of good quality, rate
of 130. Condition at the conclusion of the operation was gratifying.
The result cannot be foretold. His condition at present justifies hope
of recovery. George B. Cortelyou,

"Secretary to the President."

The sad news sped around the world. Living wires flashed it from
end to end of the continent; through unsounded seas to distant lands.
Though divided into political factions, at that moment the American
people stood as one.

Bulletins were issued at frequent intervals. For a day or two there
was suspense, then encouraging news. The next two days were marked
by still further progress. On the loth of September, four days after the
shooting, the physicians were confident that he had passed the danger line.

Yet, with true professional conservatism, they refused to give a
final statement to that effect, save to the family and to those who were
waiting anxiously in the spacious rooms of the Milburn mansion. There
was still danger — with the stomach perforated, a bullet hidden some-
where in his back, and septic poisoning always possible.

The President maintained his strength and was cheerful. He asked
for the morning papers, but his request could not be granted.

For the first time since the assassin was taken away, the President
asked what had been done with him, and was told that he was being held
as a prisoner.

"He must have been crazy," said the President. "I never saw the
man until he approached me at the reception." When told that the man
was an anarchist, the President replied :

"Too bad, too bad!" I trust, though, that he will be treated with
all fairness."

hope of recovery encouraged.

The good news which came from the President's bedside was received
with great joy throughout the world. At the Grand Army encampment,
which was then being held in Cleveland, General Daniel Sickles strode
into headquarters, and said to those assembled there :

"Comrades, let us thank God for the good news from Buffalo. The

Our Martyred President 23

Lord has heard the prayer of the world. Christian, Mohammedan,
Chinese and all people have united with us in prayer that McKinley
might be spared to us. That prayer is answered. Blessed be the name
of the Lord, who preserves that great persoitality to us,"

Mrs. McKinley was very happy over the good news. "We trust in
God and believe Mr. McKinley is going to recover speedily," she said.
"I know he has the best medical attendance that can be obtained and I
am perfectly satisfied that these doctors are handling the case splendidly.
It is a great pleasure to know the deep interest and sympathy felt by
the American people. The case is progressing so favorably that we are
all very happy."

On September 11 the physicians publicly pronounced hirxi out of
danger. Vice President Roosevelt left Buffalo for a trip through the
Adirondacks, and the members of the Cabinet returned to Washington.

A SUDDEN CHANGE,

Suddenly, without warning, there was a change for the worse. The
first alarm came from the house at two o'clock on the morning of Sep-
tember 13, two hours after the encouraging official bulletin sent out
cTfter the midnight consultation of the physicians. The signal of fear
was the sending of messages to all the physicians to return to the house
at once. The President had had a sinking spell.

At three o'clock it was authoritatively admitted that the President
was in an extremely critical condition.

It was stated in the official bulletin, issued at 3 :20 a. m., that "the
condition of the President gives rise to the gravest apprehensions."

Throughout the day and evening the expectations of attendant friends
and physicians oscillated as a pendulum between hope and despair.
Hopeless bulletins followed encouraging reports from the sick room,
and they in turn gave way to recurrent hope.

All who passed in and out of the house during the day were ques-
tioned as to the President's condition, but little of an encouraging nature
could be learned. The truth was too evident to be passed over or con-
cealed. The President's life was hanging in the balance. The watchers
felt that at any moment might come the announcement of a change
which would foreshadow the end,

A slight improvement was noted in the early bulletins and was main-
tained during the morning and early afternoon. When it was learned
that the President was taking small quantities of nourishment hope rose
that he would pass the crisis in safety. Yet every one knew that the
coming night, in all probability, would decide whether the President
was to live or die. It was known that he was being kept alive by the

24 Life of William McKinley

strongest of heart stimulants, and that the physicians had obtained a
supply of oxygen to be used if the worst came.

During the day the President was conscious when he was not asleep.
Early in the morning when* he awoke, he looked out of the window and
saw the sky was overcast with heavy clouds.

"It is not so bright as it was yesterday," he said. His eyes then
caught the waving branches of the trees, glistening with rain, and he
spoke again. "It is pleasant to see them," he said, feebly.

Mrs. McKinley saw the President only once during the day, and
then only for a moment. No words passed between them. The phy-
sicians led her to his bedside and after she had looked at him for a
moment, they led her away.

She was told that he was not so well, but the physicians did not
deem it best to explain the complications to her, or the real gravity of
his condition.

As fast as steam could bring them the President's secretaries, the
members of his family, and the physicians who had left, convinced that
he would recover, were whirled back to the city, going at once to the
Milburn house.

All night the physicians worked to keep the President alive. The
day began with a gloomy sky and a pouring rain, broken by frequent
bursts that amounted to a torrent. Gloom surrounded the ivy-clad
house about which the sentries were steadily marching.

No bulletin was issued at six o'clock, as had been customary. Almost
as soon as it became light, men and women began to gather about the
ropes which had been stretched in each direction a block away from the
house.

Mrs. McKinley was awake early. She had slept well throughout the
night. She was isolated in a corner of the Milburn house- and, further
removed by careful guarding, she remained all unconscious of the cloud
over her. head, while the wounded husband, for whose ease her strong
soul had struggled to overcome a disease-shattered body for days, fought
for life.

Yet, as soon as she awoke, she instinctively scented danger. Trem-
blingly, she asked to be taken to her husband earlier than usual. She
was advised to wait a while. Without sign of complaint but with a world
of sufifering in her eyes, she submitted. She feared to ask for a reason
and nobody dared to give her one.

Throughout the day anxiety grew. At half past six a bulletin was
issued, signed by Secretary Cortelyou, which read as follows :

"The President's physicians report that his condition is most serious
in spite of vigorous stimulation. The depression continues, and is pro-
found. Unless it can be relieved, the end is only a question of time."

MR. WILLIAM McKINLEY
Father of the President

Our Martyred President 2K

Before this bulletin was issued, it was clear to those at his bedside
that he was dying. Preparations were made for the last sad office of
farewell from those who were nearest and dearest to him. Oxygen had
been administered steadily, but with little effect in keeping back the
approach of death. He came out of one period of unconsciousness, only
to relapse into another.

DEATH OF THE PRESIDENT.

About eight o'clock at night oxygen was given him again, and under
its influence he slightly revived. He told Dr. Rixey that he realized that
he was about to die, and asked for Mrs. McKinley.

She came and knelt down by his bedside, and his eyes rested lov-
ingly upon her. He put out his hands, laid them upon hers, and
tenderly drew her to him. What he said in that feeble whisper, only he
and she knew.

Mrs. McKinley raised her tear-stained face and said to Dr. Rixey:
"I know that you will save him. I cannot let him go. The country
cannot spare him."

The President's strength did not last long. Unconsciousness returned
and they led her gently away.

At lo o'clock she was summoned to him again. He was awaiting
her. With his last strength he strove to clasp her hand. She bent
over him, and his lips moved feebly.

"Good-by, all, good-by," he said. 'Tt is God's way. His will, not
ours, be done." Then, as he sank into unconsciousness for the last
time, he murmured : "Nearer, my God, to Thee.

At 2:15 o'clock, on the morning of September 14, 1901, the Presi-
dent died. His last breath passed calmly and almost imperceptibly.
Peace and forgiveness were written on his white face. He had been
unconscious for several hours and his death was free from pain.

Again the wires flashed the news around the world. United in a
common sorrow, eighty million American hearts ached as one. Through-
out the night many thousands had been anxiously waiting for news.
The blood-red sun arose upon countless flags that drooped at half-mast.

ARRIVAL OF ROOSEVELT SWORN IN AS PRESIDENT.

All day messengers were hunting for Theodore Roosevelt, who,
fully believing in the recovery of his chief, was in the mountain woods,
far away from civilization. Through the Adirondacks bugles sounded
imperiously, calling him to the highest office in the land.

It was late afternoon when Jiie was found. The sun was sinking
behind the distant peaks. The yellowed leaves of early autumn, as

26 Life of William McKinley

now and then one fell in the silence of the forest, shone like gold in
the last light of the day.

The breathless messenger told him what had happened. He leaned
upon his gun, looking far out across the hills toward the sun which had
risen upon the third martyred President of the republic. There were
tears in his eyes. Then he set his teeth together and went back with
the messenger, having said not a single word.

After a record-breaking journey he arrived at Buffalo, going first, as
the humblest citizen might, to the bier of the dead President. At 3 :32
o'clock Saturday afternoon, September 14, 1901, Theodore Roosevelt
became the President of the United States. Judge John R. Hazel, of the
United States District Court, administered the oath of office in the
library of the residence of Mr. Ansley Wilcox, at Buffalo. Mr. Roose-
velt during his stay in Buffalo made his home at the house of Mr. Wil-
cox, who was an old friend of the Roosevelt family. In this simple,
unostentatious manner did the Vice-President assume the high duties of
President of the United States.

CHAPTER II.

Proclamation by President Roosevelt. Funeral
Processions and Rites

President Roosevelt on Saturday evening, September 14, issued the
following proclamation :

"By the President of the United States, a Proclamation :

"A terrible bereavement has befallen our people. The President of
the United States has been struck down; a crime has been committed
not only against tlie chief magistrate, but against every law-abiding and
liberty-loving citizen.

"President McKinley crowned a life of largest love for his fellow
men, of most earnest endeavor for their welfare, by a death of Christian
fortitude, and both the way in which he lived his life and the way in
which, in the supreme hour of trial, he met his death will remain forever
a precious heritage of our people.

"It is meet that we as a nation express our abiding love and reverence
for his life, our deep sorrow for his untimely death.

"Now, therefore, I, Theodore Roosevelt, President of the United
States of America, do appoint Thursday next, September 19, the day on
which the body of the dead President will be laid in its last earthly rest-
ing place, as a day of mourning and prayer throughout the United
States. I earnestly recommend all the people to assemble on that day
in their respective places of divine worship, there to bow down in sub-
mission to the will of Almiighty God, and to pay out of full hearts their
homage of love and reverence to the great and good President whose
death has smitten the nation with bitter grief.

"In wdtness w-hereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the
seal of the United States to be affixed.

"Done at the city of Buffalo, the fourteenth day of September, A. D.
one thousand nine hundred and one, and of the independence of the
United States the one hundred and twenty-sixth.

"Theodore Roosevelt.

"By the President.

"John Hay, Secretary of State."

There were three funerals. The first, of William McKinley the
martyr, was held in Buffalo, where he died. The second, of William

28 Life of William McKinley

McKinley the President, was held in Washington, at the seat of govern-
ment. The last, of William McKinley the man, was held in Canton,

his old home.

The service in Buffalo, which was held in Milburn house, was
simple. It was marked by none of the pomp of state. It was such as
the humblest might have had, if he had been loved by his fellow men.

The funeral train was made ready for the sad journey to Wash-
ington. On the observation car, attached to the rear of the train,
elevated so that it might be readily seen, was the heavy cedar casket
which contained the body of the President, guarded by men from the
army and the navy, of which he was commander in chief.

The locomotive was heavily draped in black, and the windows of
the train were shaded. Only the flag shone brightly, lying over the body
of him who had served it well.

Along the way the church bells tolled as the cortege passed through.
Flags hung at half-mast, and from each one hung the streamer of black.
Women and children strewed flowers upon the track, as if to soothe
the passage of the chief.

The night of September i6 was spent in the White House. The
President was there for the last time. Only relatives and friends were
admitted. The servants who wept over the body of the President, by
their tears paid an eloquent tribute to the man.

For a long time, in the evening, Mrs. McKinley sat by him alone.
The room was cleared of even the naval and military guard. At last
she was led away, so utterly bowed down with grief, that Dr. Rixey
decided that she could not attend the public funeral the next day.

The cortege was formed at the White House by nine o'clock.
While muffled drums beat the long roll and the military band played
softly "Nearer, My God, to Thee," the casket was lifted by the guard
of soldiers and sailors and placed in the l*earse. Then "The Dead
Marcli from Saul" was heard, and the line moved.

President Roosevelt, in a carriage drawn by four black horses, and
with a band of crape around his arm, immediately followed the hearse.
The justices of the supreme court, in their black robes of office; the
men of the army and navy, in the full dress of their rank; representa-
tives of foreign governments, in all their trappings of state, were also in
line.

The people, by their government, followed his cortege down the
avenue, which they had twice traversed in his train to a triumphal
inauguration. Under the dome of the national capitol, the people, by
their government, bowed beside his bier.

The pictured symbolism of a free nation's rise looked down from the

MR. ABNER McKINLEY

Our Martyred President ig

wall. The shades of Lincoln and of Garfield could be felt hovering
overhead to lead a third into the hall of martyrs. From the lips of the
painted Washington on the canvas, standing among his associates in
the building of the republic, and from the sculptured Jefferson on his
pedestal, one could almost hear the words: "Has. our work come to
this — thrice the chosen leader of a free people dead by the assassin's
hand?"

Out of the air in answer one could almost hear the sublime words
which reverberated across a continent when Lincoln fell, from the lips
of one who was destined to follow him : "]\Iy countrymen ! God reigns,
and the government at Washington still lives."

The casket was lifted from the spot where Lincoln's had rested a
generation ago. It was a tragic parallel. Both had been chosen in
time of dire distress to lead the nation out of trouble. Both had guided
the ship of state through war.

Six months before, vigorous in mind and body, William McKinley
had gone to the capitol to take the oath of office for the second time.
His progress was marked by cheering thousands, and the star-spangled
flag he had ever loved and served shone in the sun on every side.

That route of triumph became a pathway of tears. The people were
there, and the flags, but there were signs of sorrow in the white and
crimson folds, and tears in the eyes of those who saw him pass. Hand-
kerchiefs, that once waved greeting were pressed to quivering lips to
keep back the sound of sobs. The huzzas of March were hushed in
September. Where were gladness and gayety were grief and heart-ache
now.

Solemnly the funeral line wound past the Treasury building and into
the broad sweep of Pennsylvania avenue. The people stood in the rain
with heads uncovered, and bowed in sadness as the chieftain passed.

The home of the nation's government awaited the cortege in solemn
simplicity. A flag flying at half-mast over the marble entrance was
the only sign of mourning. Not a strip of black drapery was in sight,
the law decreeing that the government buildings should not be draped in
black.

The faint notes of the bugle sounding the approach of the cortege
were heard at half-past ten. "Nearer, My God, to Thee," the funeral
anthem of the President, softly drifted in. With slow and solemn tread
the casket was borne up the broad terrace of steps, on the shoulders of
soldiers and marines, and placed upon the catalfaque directly under the
dome.

The representatives of the people ranged themselves about It. Softly
a choir sang, "Lead, Kindly Light."

^o Life of William McKinley

Rev. Dr. Naylor prayed in the name of the whole people. Then
a woman's voice, tremulous with tears, sang sweetly: "Some Time We
Shall Understand."

The venerable Bishop Andrews, of the Methodist Episcopal Church,
read the scriptural assurances of life beyond the grave. Then, fervently,
and from his heart he spoke of the nation's dead chief as follows :

FUNERAL SERMON BY BISHOP ANDREWS AT WASHING-
TON, SEPT. 17.

Bishop Andrews' patriarchal and kindly appearance, added to the
eloquent depth of feeling manifested in every word he spoke, made a
profound impression.

Bishop Andrews' sermon was as follows:

" 'Blessed be the God and Father of Our Lord, who of His abundant
mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope of the resurrection from
the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not
away, reserved in heaven for us who are now, by the power of God
through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time.'

"The services for the dead are fitly and almost of necessity services
of religion and of immortal hope. In the presence of the shroud and
the coffin and the narrow home, questions concerning intellectual quality,
concerning public station, concerning great achievements, sink into com-
parative insignificance; and questions concerning character and man's
relation to the Lord and Giver of life, even the life eternal, emerge to
our view and impress themselves upon us.

SAYS '^''CHARACTER ABIDES."

"Character abides. We bring nothing into this world ; we can carry
nothing out. We ourselves depart with all the accumulations of ten-
dency and habit and quality which the years have given to us. We ask,
therefore, even at the grave of the illustrious, not altogether what great
achievement they had performed and how they had commended them-
selves to the memory and affection or respect of the world, Imt chiefly
of what sort they were ; what the interior nature of the man was ; what
were his affinities? Were they with the good, the true, the noble?
What his relation to the Infinite Lord of the Universe and to the com-
passionate Savior of mankind ; what his fitness for that great hereafter
to which he had passed ?

' LOSS OF A BELOVED MAN.

"And such great questions come to us with moment, even in the
hour when we gather around the bier of those whom we profoundly

Our Martyred President 31

respect and eulogize and whom we tenderly love. In the years to come,
the days and the months that lie immediately before us, will give full
utterance as to the high statesmanship and great achievements of the
illustrious man whom we mourn today. The nation already has broken
out in its grief and poured its tears, and is still pouring them, over the
loss of a beloved man. It is well. But we ask this morning of what
sort this man is, so that w'e may perhaps, knowing the moral and spiritual
life that is past, be able to shape the far-withdraw^ing future. I think
we must all concede that nature and training and — reverently be it said
— the inspiration of the Almighty conspired to conform a man admirable
in his moral temper and aims.

EMINENTLY GIFTED BY NATURE.

''We none of us can doubt, I think, that even by nature he was
eminently gifted. The kindly, calm and equitable temperament, the
kindly and generous heart, the love of justice and right, and the tendency
tow^ard faith and loyalty to unseen powers and authorities — these things
must have been with him from his childhood, from his infancy — but
upon them supervened the training for which he w^as ahvays tenderly
thankful and of which even this great nation, from sea to sea, continually
has taken note.

BORN IN HUMBLE HOME.

"It was an humble home in wdiich he w'as born. Narrow conditions
were around him, but faith in God had lifted that lowly roof, according
to the statement of some great writer, up to the very heavens and per-
mitted its inmates to behold the things eternal, immortal and divine;
and he came under that training.

"It is a beautiful thing that to the end of his life he bent reverently
before that mother whose example and teaching and prayer had so fash-
ioned his mind and all his aims.

"He w^as helpful in all of those beneficences and activities ; and from
the church to the close of his life he received inspiration that lifted him
above much of the trouble and weakness incident to our human nature,
and, blessings be to God, may we say in the last and final hour they
enabled him confidently, tenderly to say : Tt is His will, not ours, that
will be done.'

OF INCORRUPTIBLE INTEGRITY.

"Such influences gave to us William McKinley. And what was he?
A man of incorruptible personal and political integrity. I suppose no
one ever attempted to approach him in the way of a bribe; and we
remember with great felicitation at this time for such an example to our-

^2 Life of William McKinley

selves, that when great financial difficulties and perils encompassed him
he determined to deliver all he possessed to his creditors; that there
should be no challenge of his perfect honesty in the matter. A man of
immaculate purity, shall v^e say?

HIS ESCUTCHEON UNSTAINED.

"No stain was upon his escutcheon; no syllable of suspicion that I
ever heard was whispered against his character. He walked in perfect
and noble self-control.

"Shall I speak a word next of that which I will hardly advert to?
The tenderness of that domestic love which has so often been commented
upon? I pass it with only that word. I take it that no words can set
forth fully the unfaltering kindness and carefulness and upbearing love
which belonged to this great man.

SUCCESS DUE TO MORAL QUALITIES.

"And now may I say further that it seemed to me that to whatever
we may attribute all the illustriousness of this man all the greatness of
his achievements — whatever of that we may attribute to his intellectual
character and quality, whatever of it we may attribute to the patient
and thorough study which he gave to the various questions thrust upon
him for attention, for all his successes as a politician, as a statesman, as
a man of this great country, those successes were largely due to the moral
qualities of which I have spoken. They drew to him the hearts of men
everywhere and particularly of those who best knew him.

CONFIDED TO HIS HONOR.

"They believed in him, felt his kindness, confided in his honesty and
in his honor. His qualities even associated with him in kindly relations
those who were his political opponents. They made it possible for him
to enter that land with which he, as one of the soldiers of the Union,
had been in some sort at war and to draw closer the tie that was to bind
all the parts in one firmer and indissoluble union. They commanded the
confidence of the great body of congress, so that they listened to his
plans and accepted kindly and hopefully and trustfully all his declara-
tions. His qualities gave him reputation, not in this land alone, but
throughout the world, and made it 'possible for him to minister in the
style in which he has within the last two or three years ministered to
the welfare and peace of humankind.

WILL SUCH A MAN DIE?

"It was out of the profound depths of his moral and religious char-
acter that came the possibilities of that usefulness which we are all dad

JOHN D. LONG
Secretary of the Navy

Our Martyred President 33

to attribute to him. And will such a man die? Is it possible that He
who created, redeemed, transformed, uplifted, illumined such a man
will permit him to fall into oblivion ?

"The instincts of morality are in all good men. The divine word of
the Scripture leaves us no room for doubt. T,' said one whom he trusted,
'am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in Me, though he
were dead, yet shall he live, and whosoever liveth and believeth in Me,
shall never die.'

NOT LOST TO GOD.

"Lost to us, but not to his God. Lost from earth, but entered heaven.
Lost from these labors and toils and perils, but entered into the everlast-
ing peace and ever advancing progress. Blessed be God who gives us
this hope in the hour of our calamity, and enables us to triumph through
Him who hath redeemed us

"If there is a personal immortality before him let us also rejoice that
there are an immortality and memory in the hearts of a large and ever-
growing people, who through the ages to come, the generations that are
yet to be, will look back upon this life, upon its nobility and purity and
service to humanity, and thank God for it. The years draw on when
his name shall be counted among the illustrious of the earth.

"William of Orange is not dead. Cromwell is not dead. Washing-
ton lives in the hearts and lives of his countrymen. Lincoln, with his
infinite sorrow, lives to teach us and lead us on. And McKinley shall
summon all statesmen and all his countrymen to purer living, nobler
aims, sweeter and immortal blessedness."

Again the comforting words and music of "Nearer, My God, to
Thee," arose. Rev, W. H. Chapman pronounced the benediction.
Friends in official life took their last look at the dead face, and then the
people came.

The rain fell nearly all the afternoon, but the crowds outside were
undiminished. From Baltimore and Annapolis, from Harper's Ferry
and Cumberland, from Richmond and even from cities farther away,
hundreds and thousands had come.

Only about six thousand an hour were permitted to pass through
the doors. This went on for five hours, permitting a total of about
thirty thousand to pass. Fully as many more were denied when the
doors were closed at six o'clock.

.Promptly at six o'clock the naval and military guard took charge
of the President's body again. The military escort was re-formed at
seven o'clock, and the casket was removed from the capitol to the
Pennsylvania railroad station.

34 Life of William McKinley

A platoon of mounted police cleared the way to the depot, and two
troops of cavalry preceded the hearse. No members of the cabinet or
representative members of the family were in line, but all officers of
the army and navy in the city formed the escort.

Soon after the body of the beloved President was placed in the
observation car, members of the cabinet and friends of the family began
to arrive. It was almost eight o'clock before Mrs. McKinley left the
White House. Her carriage, surrounded by mounted police and followed
by the immediate mourners, was driven to the lower end of the station
to escape the crowd. Fifteen carriages were required to bring the
mourners from the White House.

THE JOURNEY TO CANTON.

Leaving Washington, the long, winding train bearing the remains
of the martyred President plunged out into the dark night and began
its mournful journey.

The curtains of the train were drawn as it pulled out of the station,
save only for the observation car, in which the casket lay, guarded by a
soldier and a sailor of the republic. That car alone was flooded with light.
The countless thousands extending from the station far out into the sub-
urbs of the national capital, waited patiently in the drenching rain to pay
their last farewell, thus had an opportunity to catch a last fleeting
glimpse of the flag-covered casket as it sped by. Several thousand people
on the bridge over the eastern branch of the Potomac, straining for a last
look, could be seen by the lights strung along the bridge as the train
moved under it.

As the little villages between Washington and Baltimore were passed,
the sound of tolling bells came faintly to the heavy-hearted mourners
aboard. The lighted death chamber in the rear car was an impressive
spectacle; the bier in full view, the soldier with bayoneted gun held at
salute and the jack tar, with cutlass drawn, on guard. The light from
the car streamed out into the darkness for many a mile.

As the train came out of the long tunnel leading to Baltimore, before
reaching Union station, thousands of silent forms could be seen and
the dismal tolling of bells could be heard. A clear bugle call sounded
a requiem. Hundreds of people had gained access to the train shed, and
they gazed sorrowfully at the casket while the locomotives were being-
shifted. The train, which had arrived at 9 134 p. m., pulled out for the
west a few minutes later.

Canton was ready for the last home-coming of William McKinley.
In other days she welcomed him with cheers, waving banners and
triumphal marches. Now she was to receive him in sorrow, the streets
hung in black and resounding with the wailing notes of a dirge.

Our Martyred President 35

At eleven o'clock on the morning of September 18 the chief came
home — for the last time. His body was borne at noon through streets
black with crape and through lanes of sorrow-stricken people, who made
no effort to hide their tears. The whole city seemed to be a house of
the dead.

There was but one moment when the silence was broken. It was
when the funeral column crept up the street to the beat of the muffled
drums. Softly came the strains, once again, of "Nearer, My God, to
Thee." The thousands of men and women, standing like statues, took
up the refrain in tear-broken whispers :

"Nearer, my God, to Thee,
Nearer to Thee;
E'en though it be a cross.
That raiseth me."

It was a home-coming that kings might look for when their earthly
stars set, and look for in vain.

Out and beyond the muffled drums, the solemn strains of music and
love for the dead, every heart went to the lone woman who had been
taken from the funeral train, her strength almost gone, and hurried on
ahead to the old home.

All the afternoon upon a shrouded catafalque in a corridor of the
courthouse lay the body of the chief. For more than seven hours a stream
of men, women and children passed the bier. They stepped softly lest
their footfalls wake their friend, and tears, unbidden, came to eyes that
looked down upon those that were closed in death.

When the doors were finally closed, there was a long line of people
still waiting, whose wishes had to be denied.

In accordance with Mrs. McKinley's request, the casket was removed
to the house on Market street, where they had spent so many happy
hours together, and where the news of his election had first come.

During the morning, at her urgent request, she sat alone for a time
beside the casket as it lay in the south parlor of the house. No one
sought to lift the veil. The casket was not opened. But she was near
the one who had ever cared for her and protected her ; near the dead for
whom grief had burned into the soul of a country the lessons of manli-
ness and beneficence taught by his life.

The last ceremonies were marked with a dignity and impressiveness
that struck dumb the tens of thousands who watched the funeral column
make the journey from the home.

From the south parlor of the frame house which had been his home

36 Life of William McKinley

for so long, the chief was borne to the First Methodist Church, with
statesmen, diplomats and representatives of the great nations of the
world gathered with the sorrowing members of the family. Ministers of
five religious denominations said the simple services.

Troops banked the streets about, but the thousands who had crowded
near and stood -for five hours, held their places, catching up the broken
strains of "Nearer, My God, to Thee."

The silence of calm had come; the silence of supreme excitement
had passed.

The minister was all but hidden by the mountain of flowers banked
upon the pulpit and in the chancel.

'Tt was not at him that the fatal shot was fired," he said, "but at the
very heart of our government."

These words brought home with crushing force the warning that
the last scenes were passing. Among those who sat with bowed heads was
President Roosevelt. The tears came into his eyes as he heard the peti-
tions that God might guide his hands aright.

REV. DR. C. E. MANCHESTER'S SERMON.

Dr. C. E. Manchester, minister of the church in which the last rites
were said at Canton, delivered the address. He had known William
McKinley as a friend and as a strong man in the life of the church. His
address brought the tears, for about him were men who had known this
great, gentle man in some way.

Dr. Manchester's sermon was as follows :

"Our President is dead.

" 'The silver cord is loosed, the golden bowl is broken, the pitcher is
broken at the fountain, the wheel broken at the cistern, the mourners go
about the streets.'

" 'One voice is heard — a wail of sorrow from all the land, for the
beauty of Israel is slain upon the high places. How are the mighty
fallen! I am distressed for thee, my brother. Very pleasant hast thou
been unto me.'

"Our President is dead. We can hardly believe it. We had hoped
and prayed, and it seemed that our hopes were to be realized and our
prayers answered, wdien the emotion of joy was changed to one of grave
apprehension. Still we waited, for we said : Tt may be that God will be
gracious and merciful to us.' It seemed to us that it must be his will
to spare the life of one so well beloved and so much needed.

"Thus, alternating between hope and fear, the weary hours passed

Our Martyred President 37

on. Then came the tidings of a defeated science, of the failure of love
and prayer to hold its object to the earth. We seemed to hear the
faintly muttered words : 'Good-by all ; good-by. It's God's way. His
will be done.' And then, 'Nearer, my God, to Thee.'

PASSES ON TO BE AT REST.

"So, nestling near to his God, he passed out into unconsciousness,
skirted the dark shores of the sea of death for a time, and then passed
on to be at rest. His great heart had ceased to beat.

"Our hearts are heavy with sorrow.

(( e

A voice is heard on earth of kinfolk weeping

The loss of one they love;
But he has gone where the redeemed are keeping

A festival above.

"The mourners throng the ways and from the steeple
The funeral bells toll slow ;
But on the golden streets the holy people
Are passing to and fro.

"And saying as they meet : 'Rejoice, another,
Long waited for, is come.
The Savior's heart is glad ; a younger brother
Has reached the Father's home.'

"The cause of this universal mourning is to be found in the man him-
self. The inspired penman's picture of Jonathan, likening him unto the
"Beauty of Israel,' could not be more appropriately employed than in
chanting the lament of our fallen chieftain. It does no violence to human
speech, nor is it fulsome eulogy to speak thus of him, for who that has
seen his stately bearing, his grace and manliness of demeanor, his kindli-
ness of aspect but gives assent to this description of him?

LOVED BY ALL WHO KNEW HIM.

"It was characteristic of our beloved President that men met him
only to love him. They might, indeed, differ from him, but in the pres-
ence of such dignity of character and grace of manner none could fail to
love the man. The people confided in him, believed in him. It was said
of Lincoln that probably no man since the days of Washington was ever
so deeply embedded and enshrined in the hearts of the people, but it is
true of McKinley in a larger sense. Industrial and social conditions

38 Life of William McKinley

are such that he was, even more than his predecessors, the friend of the
whole people.

"A touching scene was enacted in this church last Sunday night. The
services had closed. The worshipers were gone to their homes. Only a
few lingered to discuss the sad event that brings us together today.
Three men of a foreign race and unfamiliar tongue, and clad in working
garb, entered the room. They approached the altar, kneeling before it
and before the dead man's picture. Their lips moved as if in prayer,
while tears furrowed their cheeks. They may have been thinking of their
own King Humbert and of his untimely death. Their emotion was elo-
quent, eloquent beyond speech, and it bore testimony to their appreciation
of manly friendship and of honest worth.

SOUL CLEAN AND HANDS UNSULLIED.

"It is a glorious thing to be able to say in this presence, with our illus-
trious dead before us, that he never betrayed the confidence of his coun-
trymen. Not for personal gain or pre-eminence would he mar the beauty
of his soul. He kept it clean and white before God and man, and his
hands were unsullied by bribes.

" 'His eyes looked right on, and his eyelids looked straight before him.
He was sincere, plain and honest, just, benevolent and kind. He never
disappointed those who believed in him, but measured up to every dut}^
and met every responsibility in life grandly and unflinchingly.

"Not only was our President brave, heroic and honest; he was as
gallant a knight as ever rode the lists for his lady love in the days when
knighthood was in flower. It is but a few weeks since the nation looked
on with tear-dimmed eyes as it saw with what tender conjugal devotion
he sat at the bedside of his beloved wife, when all feared that a fatal
illness was upon her. No public clamor that he might show himself to the
populace, no demand of a social function was sufficient to draw the lover
from the bedside of his wife. He watched and waited while we all
prayed — and she lived.

TENDER STORY OF HIS LOVE.

"This sweet and tender story all the world knows, and the world
knows that his whole life had run in this one groove of love. It was a
strong arm that she leaned upon, and it never failed her. Her smile was
more to liim than the plaudits of the multitude, and for her greeting his
acknowledgments of them must wait. After receiving the fatal wound
his first thought was that the terrible news might be broken gently to
her. May God in this deep hour of sorrow comfort her. May His grace
be greater than her anguish. May the widow's God be her God.

Our Martyred President 39

"Another beauty in the character of our President, that was a chaplet
of grace about his neck, was that he was a Christian. In the broadest,
noblest sense of the word that was true. His confidence in God was
strong and unwavering. It held him steady in many a storm where
others were driven before the wind and tossed. He believed in the
fatherhood of God and in his sovereignty. His faith in the gospel of
Christ was deep and abiding. He had no patience with any other theme
of pulpit discourse. 'Christ and him crucified' was in his mind the only
panacea for the world's disorders. He believed it to be the supreme duty
of the Christian minister to preach the word. He said : 'We do not look
for great business men in the pulpit, but for great preachers.'

EVER A TRUE CHRISTIAN.

"It is well known that his godly mother had hoped for him that he
would become a minister of the gospel, and that she believed it to be the
highest vocation in life. It was not, however, his mother's faith that
made him a Christian. He had gained in early life a personal knowledge
of Jesus which guided him in the performance of greater duties and vaster
than have been the lot of any other American President. He said at one
time, while bearing heavy burdens, that he could not discharge the daily
duties of his life but for the fact that he had faith in God.

"William McKinley believed in prayer: in the beauty of it, in the
potency of it. Its language was not unfamiliar to him, and his public
addresses not infrequently evince the fact. It was perfectly conristent
with his life-long convictions and his personal experiences that he should
say at the first critical moment after the assassination approached : 'Thy
Kingdom come ; Thy will be done,' and that he should declare at the last :
'It is God's way; His will be done.' He lived grandly; it was fitting that
he should die grandly. And now that the majesty of death has touched
and calmed him we find that in his supreme moment he was still a con-
queror.

CRIME PLUNGES WORLD INTO GRIEF.

"My friends and countrymen, with what language shall I attempt to
give expression to the deep horror of our souls as I speak of the cause of
his death? When we consider the magnitude of the crime that has
plunged the country and the world into unutterable grief we are not sur-
prised that one nationality after another has hastened to repudiate the
dreadful act. This gentle spirit, who hated no one, to whom every man
was a brother, was suddenly smitten by the cruel hand of an assassin,
and that, too, while in the act of extending a kind and generous greeting
to one who approached him under the sacred guise of friendship.

"Could the assailant have realized how awful was the act he was

40 Life of William McKinley

about to perform, how utterly heartless the deed, methinks he would have
staid his hand at the threshold of it. In all the coming years men will
seek in vain to fathom the enormity of that crime.

"Had this man who fell been a despot, a tyrant, an oppressor, an
insane frenzy to rid the world of him might have sought excuse; but it
was the people's friend who fell when William McKinley received the
fatal wound. Himself a son of toil, his sympathies were with the toiler.
No one who has seen the matchless grace and perfect ease with which
he greeted such can ever doubt that his heart was in his open hand. Every
heart throb was for his countrymen. That his life should be sacrificed
at such a time, just when there was abundant peace, when all the Americas
were rejoicing together, is one of the inscrutable mysteries of Providence.
Like many others, it must be left for future revelations to explain.

LIVES TO SEE A UNITED NATION.

"In the midst of our sorrow we have much to console us. He lived
to see his nation greater than ever before. All sectional lines are blotted
out. There is no South, no North, no East, no West. Washington saw
the beginning of our national life.

"Lincoln passed through the night of our history and saw the dawn.
McKinley beheld his country in the splendor of its noon. Truly, he dies
in the fullness of his fame. With Paul he could say, and with equal
truthfulness, T am now ready to be offered.'

"The work assigned him had been well done. The nation was at
peace. We had fairly entered upon an era of unparalleled prosperity.
Our revenues were generous. Our standing among the nations was
secure. Our President was safely enshrined in the affections of a united
people. It was not at him that the fatal shot was fired, but at the life
of the government. His offering was vicarious. It was blood poured
upon the altar of human liberty. In view of these things we are not
surprised to hear, from one who was present when this great soul passed
away, that he never before saw a death so peaceful, or a dying man so
crowned with grandeur.

LESSONS FROM THE SAD EVENT.

"Let us turn now to a brief consideration of some of the lessons that
we are to learn from this sad event.

"The first one that will occur to us all is the old, old lesson that 'in
the midst of Hfe we are in death.' 'Man goeth forth to his work and to
his labor until the evening.' 'He fleeth as it were a shadow and never
continueth in one stay.'

"Our President went forth in the fullness of his strength, in his manlv

Our Martyred President 41

beauty, and was suddenly smitten by the hand that brought death with it.
None of us can tell what a day may bring forth. Let us, therefore,
remember that 'No man liveth to himself and none of us dieth to him-
self.' May each day's close see each day's duty done.

"Another great lesson that we should heed is the vanity of mere
earthly greatness. In the presence of the dread messenger, how small are
all the trappings of wealth and distinctions of rank and power. I beseech
you, seek Him who said: 'I am the resurrection and the life; he that
believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live, and whosoever
liveth and believeth in Me shall never die.'

"There is but one Savior for the sin-sick and the weary. I entreat you,
find him, as our brother found him.

"But our last words must be spoken. Little more than four years ago
we bade him good-bye as he went to assume the great responsibilities to
which the nation had called him. His last words as he left us were:
'Nothing could give me greater pleasure than this farewell greeting — this
evidence of your friendship and sympathy, your good will, and, I am sure,
the prayers of all the people with whom I have lived so long and whose
confidence and esteem are dearer to me than any other earthly honors. To
all of us the future is as a sealed book, but if I can, by ofiicial act or admin-
istration or utterance, in any degree add to the prosperity and unity of our
beloved country and the advancement and well-being of our splendid
citizenship, I will devote the best and most unselfish efforts of my life to
that end. With this thought uppermost in my mind, I reluctantly take
leave of my friends and neighbors, cherishing in my heart the sweetest
memories and thoughts of my old home — my home now — and, trust, my
home hereafter, so long as I live."

"We hoped with him that when his work was done, freed from the
burdens of his great office, crowned with the affections of a happy people,
he might be permitted to close his earthly life in the home he had loved.

SADNESS OF THE HOME-COMING.

"He has, indeed, returned to us. but how ? Borne to the strains of
'Nearer, My God, to Thee,' and placed where he first began life's
struggle, that the people might look and weep over so sad a home-coming.

"But it was a triumphal march. How vast the procession! The
nation rose and stood with uncovered head. The people of the land are
chief mourners. The nations of the earth weep with them. But, Oh,
what a victory ! I do not ask you in the heat of public address, but in the
calm moments of mature reflection, what other man ever had such high
honors bestowed upon him, and by so many people ? What pageant has
equaled this that we look upon tonight ? We gave him to the nation only
a little more than four years ago. He went out with the light of the

42 Life of William McKinley

morning upon his brow, but with task set, and the purpose to complete it.
We take him back a mighty conqueror.

" The church yard where his children rest,
The quiet spot that suits him best ;
There shall his grave be made,
And there his bones be laid.
And there his countrymen shall come,
With memory proud, with pity dumb.
And strangers far and near.
For many and many a year ;
For many a year and many an age,
While history on her simple page
The virtues shall enroll
Of that paternal soul.' "

As Dr. Manchester concluded, 'We seem to hear the faintly murmured
words, 'Good-bye. It is God's way; His will, not ours, be done.' " With-
out the church soldiers were standing straight as statues. Thousands of
men stood in the line of procession waiting. It was this same idea which
held them.

At the request of Mrs. McKinley the Rev. Father Vattman, chap-
lain at Fort Sheridan, Chicago, made the closing prayer, which was
both beautiful and touching.

Then came the last stage of the journey — to the City of the Dead.
Members of the United States senate, those who sit in the house of
representatives, officials and citizens from every state in the union,,
soldiers, military organizations — a column of more than six thousand
men followed the funeral car on its last journey.

The skies were hidden by clouds of gray, but not a drop of rain fell.
The path of flagging leading to the iron-gated vault was buried beneath
flowers. The men of the war of forty years before passed up this road
before the funeral car approached, catching up the flowers as they passed.
Just ahead of the hearse came the handful of survivors from the Presi-
dent's owTi regiment, blind with tears. They, too, gathered up the
flowers as they passed by.

Just without the entrance of the vault stood the new President of
the United States. The casket rested on supports close to him. The
members of the cabinet formed an open line with him and members of
the family — all save the stricken woman, who was in the home under
Dr. Rixey's close care,

Our Martyred President 43

As the casket was borne to the entrance of the vault there was not a
member of the cabinet who was not visibly affected, while several were
in tears, with their handkerchiefs to their eyes. Secretary Root, though
controlling himself to some degree of outward calm, was deeply moved,
and President Roosevelt repeatedly wiped away the tears.

Among the bystanders very few made any effort to conceal their
emotion. It was a scene, under the cheerless gray skies and the bleak
wind, as cold as the November days, that even all the glory of the flowers
could not relieve — the picture of all of sorrow and desolation that death
leaves In its wake. As the one on whom the terrible blow fell hardest
was not there, the last agony was spared her.

From the lips of the venerable Bishop Joyce came the benediction —
"Dust to dust, earth to earth, ashes to ashes."

The roar of the cannon echoed from the hillt'op just above. It came
as a mightv amen.

Again the white-haired minister spoke. Once again came the cannon
crash, its reverberations beating against the hills about the city, while
the troops stood with gleaming bayonets at salute to the dead.

Then came "taps" — the saddest call the bugle knows, sounded by
eight silver bugles. The last notes were held until the breath of the
wind seemed to rob them of life.

Away down the street, two miles away, the marching columns were
still coming. The music of the bands, muted, it seemed, by some giant
hand, came floating to the group about the vault — "Nearer, My God, to
Thee."

Once again came the thunder from the guns above.

Then the casket was carried into the vault. Five infantrymen
marched behind it. A moment passed, then the outer doors were closed.

The last ceremony was over; the third martyred President of the
United States had been committed to God and eternity.

Slowly the marching column came about the crescent road to the left
of the temporary tomb. Then darkness threw its veil over all, the silent
guards took their stations, and the cemetery gates were closed.

During the five minutes between two-thirty and two thirty-five, while
the body of the chief was being borne from the church to the hearse,
traffic was stopped all over the United States. Not a wheel was turned
upon the great railroad systems, not a wire flashed a message, not a tele-
phone bell rang. Surely no greater tribute than this was ever paid to
man. There was no sound, save when, from full hearts, came the soft
whisper, broken by sobs : "Nearer, My God, to Thee."

Out under the whispering oak trees of Westlawn Cemetery, in a
vine-covered vault which is almost buried in a sloping hillside, guarded,

44 Life of William McKinley

day and night, by soldiers of the repubhc, the body of the martyred
chief lies at rest.

But if. out of the common sorrow, may come a greater love of coun-
try, and if the red peril can be wiped from the face of the earth, William
McKinley will not have lived — nor died — in vain.

THE president's SURGEONS.

The highest medical authorities concur in the opinion that all that
surgery could do for the distinguished sufferer was done by his medical
attendants. The New York Medical Journal says :

"It is a melancholy consolation to know that the fatal termination
of President McKinley's case was not in the slightest degree due to any
omission to give him the full benefit of all the present resources of our
art, and there is nothing humiliating in the fact that the favorable prog-
nosis which for five or six days seemed justified should have finally
proven fallacious. * * * It is perfectly certain that there was no J
technical fault in the operation, and it may be said with equal positive-
ness that it would have verged on madness to prolong the search for the
bullet after it had been ascertained that it had not inflicted any very
grave injury beyond that of the stomach — ascertained, that is to say,
within the limitations of warrantable efforts."

Sir James Crichton Browne, the eminent English surgeon, said at a
gathering of prominent medical men in London, September 28, he was
confident he was expressing the unanimous opinion of the British med-
ical profession when he declared that the surgeons who attended the late
President of the United States showed the utmost skill at every stage.
A power more than human would have been required to save the life 01
the nation's wounded chief.

CHAPTER III.

Expressive Tributes From Foreign Lands.

Morning had scarcely dawned for the night watchers keeping the last
vigil beside the coffin of the murdered President, 4,000 miles away, when
Londoners were already assembled by the thousands around Westminster
Abbey to attend the memorial services of America's dead President.

The venerable palace of the dead was all too small to contain half
of those seeking admission. Every ticket printed had been bespoken a
dozen times over. At the American embassy over night, up to an hour
before noon, applicants still clamored for the coveted pasteboards, many
striving even to accompany the officials from the embassy toward the
abbey in hope of being admitted among the crowd.

Around the doors, where tickets were not needed, a throng gathered
two hours before the doors opened sufficient to fill the entire abbey.
All were in deep mourning. Indeed the outburst of black clothing sur-
passed anything seen here excepting only on the death of Queen Victoria.

CHURCH FILLS RAPIDLY.

The solemn passing bell of Westminster tower still had half an hour
to toll before the service began, when the stream of notable persons who
were admitted through the dean's yard slowly filed to their places in
the choir. One of the first to arrive was former Vice President Levi P.
Morton, accompanied by his wife and family. They were quickly fol-
lowed by Lord Pauncefote and his family.

Sir William Colville, royal master of ceremonies, found the chancel
half filled before he could take up the duties he voluntarily assumed of
marshaling people into their places. Mr. Synge, C. M. G. B., assistant
marshal of ceremonies, who also volunteered to assist the embassy offi-
cials, acted for the nonce as usher in conducting distinguished arrivals
to their places.

The lord steward of the household, Lord Pembroke, represented the
king. Next to him sat the United States ambassador, Mr. Choate ; Sec-
retary White and other members of the embassy. Colonel Alfred M.
Egerton, equerry of the Duke of Connaut, represented the Duke and
Duchess of Connaut; Major James E. Martin, equerry of Prince Chris-
tian, represented the Prince and Princess Christian of Schleswig-Hol-

46 Life of William McKinley

stein. The secretary for war, William St. John Brodrick, and the
undersecretary of the foreign office, Lord Cranborne, were present, and
the other cabinet ministers were represented.

ALL LANDS REPRESENTED.

The British ambassador to the United States, Lord Pauncefote; the
Russian ambassador to Great Britain, M. de Stael; the Danish min-
ister, M, de Bille, and the Turkish ambassador, Costaki Anthopulo
Pasha, were also present, with members of all the legations, including
the consul general of Monaco, Lord Rosebery; the lord chief justice,
Baron Alverstone ; Baron Revelstoke, Baron Mount Stephen, Sir William
and Lady Vernon Harcourt and the agents general of twenty British
colonies were there.

The boom of the abbey bell announcing midday was faintly audible •
within the abbey as the organ broke the hushed silence with the funeral
march by Tschaikowsky, which merged later into Chopin's more familiar
dirge.

Away in the distant nave were heard the voices of the famous abbey
choir chanting in sad minor, 'T am the resurrection and the life," the
vast congregation rising as the strains floated upward and rose and
fell in mournful harmony, filling the lofty edifice to the uttermost crev-
ices of the distant roof and anon falling gently as autumn rain on the
ears of the somber-clad listeners.

Slowly, silently, the procession of surpliced choristers moved nearer
up the nave and under the oaken screen dividing the choir from the body
of the cathedral.

GRIEF IN THE REFRAIN.

The voices of the singers grew more distinct with every step until
the words of the refrain, "The Lord gave, the Lord hath taken away,"
struck a responsive sigh in every heart. As the singers filled each side
of the choir stalls the clergy, escorted by vergers with crape-covered
staves, proceeded into the sanctuary itself.

The venerable dean of Westminster Abbey had taken his place in
the chancel, surrounded by the clergy, when the congregation, standing,
prepared themselves to pour forth their feelings in "Nearer, My God, to
Thee," which henceforth will forever be associated with President Mc-
Kinley's dying moments.

But here occurred the only jar in the solemn service, A great portion
of the congregation, being Americans, naturally expected the old famil-
iar chant, which is regarded almost as America's national anthem.
Instead of this, however, the organist played the English version, by

Our Martyred President 47

Rev. J. B. Dykes, a tune quite foreign to American ears. For a few
moments the effect was most painful alike to those wishing to sing as
to others who were merely listeners.

GAVE WAY TO TEARS.

After trying weakly to join in unison with the choir, giving to the
time-worn words the unfamiliar sounds, the greater portion of the con-
gregation abandoned the attempt, while many unbidden tears were shed
and bespoke the helpless sorrow of those to whom the relief of song was
denied.

Sullivan's exquisite anthem, "Yea, Though I Walk From the Light of
the World," rendered by the choir, went far to soothe the mourners for
the absence of congregational singing, while the spectacle of the vener-
able dean reading the lesson — a gray-haired old man whose feeble voice
was barely .audible within a short radius of the chancel rail — recalled
the last occasion when he had officiated at a funeral service there, namely
when Mr. Gladstone was laid to rest among the historic dead within
the abbey.

But by far the most impressive moment of the service was the short
pause for silent prayer in behalf of the widow and family of the late
President.

SOLEMN HUSH OVER ALL.

As the great organ's note, like a deep sigh, faded into solemn silence,
the last jarring clang of the chimes outdoors momentarily punctured
the stillness as though for a record of passing time. Then a hush fell
upon the densely thronged church and for fully five minutes every head
was bowed in silent prayer — hushed and silent as the unnumbered dead
who sleep beneath the abbey stones.

It was an awful, soul-inspiring moment. One could not help recalling
the scene five years ago, at St. Louis, when at the mention of the name of
McKinley 10.000 men had cheered like half-demented savages for half
an hour by the clock.

Some of those present on that occasion were even now kneeling with
bowed heads, their subdued attitude beneath the abbey's towering roof
being more expressive of genuine feeling than the wildest cheers and
frantic flag-waving in that memorable yellow pine board convention hall.

Faintly, as if apologizing for disturbing the eternal commune be-
tween the living and the dead, the organ broke the silence, while the
choir almost imperceptibly added their voices to the refrain, "I Heard a
Voice From Heaven."

48 Life of William McKinley

OFFICE FOR THE DEAD.

For the remainder of the service the sacrist recited the prayers, the
choir organ again sang an anthem, the dean pronounced the benediction
and the congregation stood while the dead march in "Saul" was played.
But during all this and as the choir and clergy slowly filed out the mem-
ory of that impressive pause lingered.

Even when Mr. Choate, standing beneath the screen at the end of the
nave, received the silent greetings of the distinguished mourners, their
mute salutation was but a repetition of the greeting to tlie illustrious
dead during that awful pause.

A similar service was held at St. Paul's Cathedral in the afternoon,
attended by 6,000 persons.

SORROW OF THE PRESS.

The London morning papers again appeared with black borders and
lonsr accounts of the ceremonies in Canton and of memorial services and
tributes throughout the world. The editorials generally comment upon
the widespread sympathy evoked. "Seldom, if ever," says the Standard,
"has a common sorrow found expression in so many lands."

The Daily News finds "this spontaneous manifestation of mourn-
ing" deeply suggestive and impressive, being paralleled only at the
death of Victoria.

Several London theaters were closed September 19. Those remain-
ing open witnessed some remarkable demonstrations. The programmes
began with the dead march in "Saul," the audiences standing. At the
leading variety houses the "Star Spangled Banner" was also played,
and was received with ringing cheers and shouts of "Down with an-
archists." At a concert in Queen's Hall Sir Arthur Sullivan's "In
Memoriam" overture and Tchaikowsky's "Pathetique Symphonic" were
played in memory of Mr. McKinley.

All the American business houses in London were closed, and the
managers and employes attended the memorial services at various
churches. On many English houses the shades were half drawn and
flags, draped in crape, were at half-mast.

At the request of members of the stock exchange and other business'
men in the city, a memorial service was held in the Church of St. Law-
rence Jewry. The church was crowded.

Mr. Choate, the American ambassador, sent the following telegram
to King Edward at Fredensborg:

"Your majesty's telegram of the 14th has deeply affected Mrs. Mc-
Kinley in this hour of her sore affliction, and I am charged to convey

JOHN HAY
Secretary of State

Our Martyred President 49

to your majesty, in her name, her grateful acknowledgment and thanks
for your sympathy, which was so thoughtfully bestowed."

"The following was received from the King at the embassay:
"Please convey to Mrs. McKinley my best thanks for her kind mes-
sage. The Queen and I feel most deeply for her in the hour of her
great affliction, and pray that God may give her strength to bear her
heavy cross. Our thoughts will today be especially with the American
nation when its distinguished President is laid at rest. Edward R."

Queen Alexandra has written an autograph letter of sympathy and
condolence to Mrs. McKinley.

SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM.

Mr. and Mrs. Chamberlain attended the memorial service in Bir-
mingham. There was also a big demonstration in that city in connec-
tion with the Wesleyan conference, when resolutions of sympathy and
condolence were adopted after the crime of Czolgosz had been charac-
terized in terms of deepest abhorrence.

Lord Lansdowne, the foreign secretary, intimates through the press
his regret that illness prevented him from attending the memorial ser-
vice in Westminster Abbey.

Mr. Choate, in his letter of apology for absence from the King Alfred
millenary commemoration at Winchester, due to the death of President
McKinley, says : "The sympathy expressed in a perfect avalanche of
telegrams from all parts of the British dominion, is most touching."

T. P. o'CONNOR,, IN A LONDON SOCIETY PAPER, RECALLS HIS PLEASANT
IMPRESSIONS OF THE LATE PRESIDENT.

Mr. O'Connor paid eloquent tribute to the character, abilities and sim-
plicity of the dead President, concluding as follows :

"The career of McKinley was typically American. It is, indeed,
Americanism at its best. Even the murmured words of the church hymn
which were among the last things uttered by the dying lips — even that
is typically American, too.

"Amid all the riot, blare and deafening noise of a country bursting
with the abounding vitality and defiant strength of its gigantic youth,
America is in its foundation a country of tranquil, sober. God-fearing
homes. Every individual American mourns in simple William McKinley
the sweetness, wholesomeness and faithful affection and enduring fidelity
of the typical American citizen — the true American man and husband, the
true American wife and the typical American home.'*

50 Life of William McKinley

REDMOND EXPRESSES SORROW FOR IRELAND.

John Redmond, the Irish leader, cabled to Theodore Roosevelt : "In
the name of the Irish nationalist party I send an expression of deepest
sympathy. Ireland abhors the dastardly crime."

THE LONDON TIMES.

This great newspaper has given an account of the assassination in an
article of forty thousand words. It says :

"The king has commanded that the court shall wear mourning for one
week for the late President of the United States."

Referrinsf to the death of Oueen Victoria the Times continues :

"In our grief the hearts of our American kin were with us, and we
tenderly cherish the memories of the alleviation which our knowledge
that it was so brought us in our woe. Today it is they who are stricken,
and, from one end of the empire to the other, the subjects of the King of
England extend to our brethren the sympathy they so loyally, so gener-
ously and so earnestly extended to us. The British people share to the
full the thoughts and sentiments expressed with touching dignity in the
proclamation in which President Roosevelt appoints the day when the
body of his predecessor is committed to the grave shall be kept as a day of
solemn mourning and prayer throughout tlie republic.

CHURCH BELLS TOLLED IN CANADIAN CITIES.

The proclamation of the Governor General, setting apart September
19 as a day of mourning throughout Canada in recognition of the fact
that the obsequies of the late President McKinley were taking place,
did not become generally knov/n until the morning of that date. In
Ottawa the banking institutions, leading business houses, the govern-
ment offices and public institutions immediately closed.

A union memorial service was held at noon. Flags on the parlia-
ment buildings and on all public buildings and private flagstaffs were
half-masted, the American flag being particularly noticeable throughout
the city. The signs of mourning were general and sincere, even amid
all the excitement of preparations for the reception of royalty.

Throughout the Dominion as in Ottawa the reports indicate a very
general observance of the day, in compliance with Lord Minto's procla-
mation. In some of the Canadian cities bells were tolled at the hour
set for the burial, and every public demonstration of mourning was
made so far as the suddenness of the proclamation would allow.

DUKE OF YORK SYMPATHETIC.

As a sympathetic tribute to the memory of President McKinley, the
Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York refrained from participa-

Our Martyred President 51

tioii in public functions, and limited their movements to a round of
visits to religious, charitable and educational institutions, including
McGill University, where each received the honorary degrees of doctor
of laws.

FINE DEMONSTRATION IN CITY OF MEXICO.

The American colony held a memorial service in honor of the late
President McKinley at 10 o'clock, September 19, in Orrin's Theater, the
largest available building. United States Ambassador Powell Clayton
presided. President Diaz and the entire cabinet and diplomatic corps
attended. The great building was swathed in black crape and pro-
fusely lighted with electricity.

SANTIAGO CITIZENS MOURN IN THE RAIN.

A memorial service was held at 10 o'clock, September 19, at the
Oriental Theater in honor of the late President McKinley. The hall
is the largest auditorium in the city, and it was packed with people. All
the American officers wore full uniform and side arms.

A troop of cavalry from Morro Castle, the civil and municipal offi-
cers, the foreign consuls, the judges, students from the state institutions,
employes of the sanitary department, the entire xA-merican colony and
thousands of Cubans of all classes were present, notwithstanding the fact
that it was raining heavily.

Hundreds were unable to gain admission and remained outside in
the drenching rain throughout the services, which consisted of addresses
made by prominent Americans and Mayor Bacardi. The theater was
draped inside and out with flags and black cloth. All public and private
business was suspended for the day.

PORTO RICO.

Appropriate memorial services were held in every town
of Porto Rico. The gathering at the theater in San Juan was very
large. The most prominent speakers, representing all parties, deliv-
ered addresses of eulogy and sympathy, which were received in mourn-
ful silence.

GERMANY.

GERMAN EMPEROR SHOWS GRIEF.

When Emperor William heard of the death of President McKinley
he immediately ordered the German fleet to half-mast their flags and to
hoist the stars and stripes at their maintops.

Emperor William sent the following dispatch :
"To Mrs. McKinley, Buffalo :

"Her Majesty the Empress and myself beg you to accept the expres-
sions of our most sincere sorrow in the loss which you have suffered by

52 Life of William McKinley

the death of your beloved husband, felled by the ruthless hand of a
murderer. May the Lord who granted you so many years of happiness
at the side of the deceased grant you strength to bear the heavy blow
with which he has visited you. "William, L R,"

Emperor William also sent the following dispatch to Secretary Hay :
"I am deeply affected by the news of the untimely death of President
McKinley. I hasten to express the deepest and most heartfelt sympath).
of the German people to the great American nation. Germany mourns
with America for her noble son, who lost his life while he was fulfilling
his duty to his country and people. "William_, I. R."

Memorial services were held in the American chapel at noon Septem-
ber 19 in honor of the late President A'IcKinley. All the imperial and
Prussian cabinet ministers were present, except the imperial chancellor.
Count von Buelow, who is absent from Berlin, He was represented by
Privy Councillor von Guenther.

All the foreign ambassadors and ministers in Berlin attended the
service, and many of the attaches and secretaries of the diplomatic
corps were present. Prince Leopold of Solms-Baruth, as the repre-
sentative of Emperor William, occupied the seat of honor.

The chapel was decorated with draped American flags and was
crowded to its fullest capacity with members of the American colony.
Rev. Dr. Rickie preached the memorial sermon.

Memorial services were held in various German cities. Those in Dres-
den attracted a large attendance of the highest official society and the
Anglo-American colony. The King of Saxony and the royal princess
were represented by their respective court marshals, and among those
present were the members of the Saxon cabinet, representatives of the
diplomatic corps and the various consulars, and Mrs. White, wife of the
United States ambassador to Germany. Addresses of sympathy were
presented by Herr von Metzsch-Reichenbach, Saxon minister of foreign
affairs, and by the mayor of Dresden.

At Munich the services were held in the Markuskirche. The prince
regent was represented by his chief master of ceremonies. Count von
Moy. A number of the members of the cabinet and representatives of
the diplomatic corps, together with many British residents, were present.
Mme. Nordica sang.

The service at Stuttg^art was held in the English church, and was
attended by Dr. Von Breitling, the premier, and representatives of all the
legations.

At Cologne the Anglo-American colony held a meeting in the English
chapel.

ETHAN A. HITCHCOCK
Secretary of the Interior

Our Martyred President 53

The executive committee of the BerHn bourse cabled an expression
of profound sympathy to the New York Stock Exchange.

PARIS.

National rejoicings in connection with the Czar's visit suffered a
brief but impressive interruption in Paris when Americans, English
and French of all classes flocked to Holy Trinity Church to take part in
the McKinley memorial service. The ceremony was announced for 3
p. m., but long before the appointed hour the church was packed to
suffocation, with the result that Ministers Dupuy and Caillaux, who rep-
resented the government, together with several prominent members of
the diplomatic corps, experienced the utmost difficulty in fighting their
way to the seats reserved for them. Others became impatient and left
the porch of the church, disgusted at their vain efforts to obtain ad-
mittance.

The immediate surroundings of the church were thronged with
large crowds unable to obtain admission yet desirous of showing their
sympathy by remaining in the vicinity of the building. Inside, the altar,
gallery and pulpit were decorated with the usual mourning. The bril-
liant uniforms of the diplomatic corps alone lent relief to the scene so
imposing in its sadness and simplicity. The great majority of the
audience was in black. The ladies were attired in deepest mourning.

Rev. M. Morgan officiated. Ambassador Porter, with the entire
staff of the United States embassy, the British ambassador and Sir Ed-
mund Monson and his staff* were present. Lieutenant Colonel Meaux
Saint-Marc represented President Loubet. The singing of the late
president's favorite hymns created a deep impression, many ladies being
moved to tears. The ceremony lasted three-quarters of an hour and
will be remembered as one of the most touching scenes witnessed in a
Paris church for many years.

ST. PETERSBURG.

Under the auspices of the United States ambassador, Charlemagne
Tower, impressive memorial services in honor of President McKinley
were held at 3 o'clock September 19 in the British American Church.
The pastor. Rev. Alexander Francis, officiated, assisted by Drs. Kean,
Kilburn and Key.

Among those present were the Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovitch,
the Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna and the Grand Duke Boris Vladi-
mirovitch. their son, and the Grand Duke Serge Michaelovitch. The
diplomatic corps was represented by the British ambassador, Sir Charles
Scott, the only ambassador besides Mr. Tower now in St. Petersburg ; the
ministers to Russia and Orieste Nicholas Vassilieff, formerly of Ansonia,

54 Life of William McKinley

Conn.; the United States ambassador and his entire staff, the United
States consul, Mr. Halloway; the United States vice-consul, Mr. Hey-
decker, and practically all the resident Americans and many British sub-
jects were also present.

The prominent Russians in attendance included Prince Obolenski,
representing the foreign office, and two directors of that office; the
Russian minister of the interior, M. Sipyaguin ; the assistant minister of
the interior, M. Stichiniski; Vice-Admiral Tyrtoff, General Rydzeffsky,
General Kleigel, the prefect of police; Prince Jules Ouroussoff and a
number of other high officials.

The services consisted of readings from the scriptures and hymns,
closing with the playing of a dead march.

RUSSIAN PRESS ON m'kINLEY.

The tone of the Russian press was uniformly sympathetic with the
American people in their bereavement and uniformly just in estimating
Mr. McKinley's character. The Novo Vremya says :

"He was a man of large talents and a beloved son of the country
for whose welfare he unceasingly and successfully labored."

The Sviet says : "Let us hope that the death of a talented and
energetic president will rouse those lands which for the sake of free-
dom of conscience and thought harbor bad elements and become the
breeding grounds for plots to action against the enemies of civilization."

The Boerse Gazette savs :

"Mr. McKinley was one of the most popular figin*es in American
history and one of the best representatives of American ideals. Society
is defenseless against the propaganda of murder. It is scarcely prob-
able that means will be found to prevent the repetition of such crimes."
The semiofficial Journal of Commerce and Industrv savs :

"Mr. McKinley was not an extreme protectionist. Shortly before
his death he spoke out against crude trust protection."

BRUSSELS.

The memorial service in Christ Church this morning was largely
attended. A feature was the singing of "Nearer, My God, to Thee."
Both the king and queen were represented by high officials.

MOURNING IN VIENNA.

Memorial services were held at the American Church September 19
at the same time as the funeral took place in Canton. The master of the
household represented Emperor Francis Joseph. The Prince of Leichen-
stein, Counted Goluchowski, and the minister of foreign affairs, Dr.
Koeber, were in attendance.

Our Martyred President 55

AGUINALDO REGRETS LOSS TO THE NATION.

Aguinaldo wrote to Civil Governor Taft and Military Governor
Chaffee saying that he regrets, with the rest of the American nation,
the great loss suffered by the people of the United States in the death of
President McKinley.

SERVICES AT COLON, COLOMBIA.

An impressive memorial service in honor of the late President
McKinley was held at the Anglican Church here September 19. and was
attended by Commander McCree and the officers and men of the United
States gunboat Machias, the United States consul, Mr. Malmros; the
Colombian officials, the consular corps, the members of the American
colony and many prominent citizens of all nationalities.

SORROW IN COPENHAGEN.

The half-mastings of flags here as a token of sympathy with the
United States and respect for the memory of President McKinley was
general September 19. The Danish, British and Russian warships in
the harbor fired salutes. Portraits of the late president, draped with
black, were displayed in many windows.

MOURNING IN INDIA BOMBAY.

September 19 was observed as a day of general mourning for Presi-
dent McKinley throughout India. All the public ofiices, banks and stores
were closed. Services were held at all the central cities.

EXERCISES AT CONSTANTINOPLE.

The memorial service at the British embassy chapel at Therapia
in honor of the late President McKinley was attended by all the chiefs
of the diplomatic mission in full uniform, including Sir N. R. O'Conor,
the British ambassador, and Lady O'Conor, and John G. A. Leishman,
the United States minister, and his staff ; United States Consul-General
C. M. Dickinson, representatives of the sultan and the Porte, and the
papal delegate, Monsignore Bonati.

SALUTES FIRED AT GIBRALTAR.

All the flags were half-masted at noon, September 19. and the channel
squadron, the United States training ship Alliance, the German training
ship Charlotte and the land batteries fired a salute of twenty-one guns
in honor of the late President McKinley. All the ships are flying the
American ensign half-mast at the main, and the American ensign is flown
half-mast throughout the British fleet.

^6 Life of William McKinley

BERLIN PRAYS FOR MRS. m'kINLEY.

The church at which the services in memory of President McKinley
were held September 19 was crowded with Germans and Americans.
The kaiser personally, and the government also, were represented by high
dignitaries. A special prayer was read for Mrs. McKinley. The church
was elaborately decorated with flowers, flags and crape.

EXERCISES AT ROME.

A memorial service for President McKinley was held at the American
Methodist Episcopal Church at 3 o'clock.. All the members of the Amer-
ican embassy and consulate were present, as well as the entire Italian cab-
inet, who were in full dress and were accompanied by under secretaries.
All 'the American residents attended, and there were generals, admirals,
representatives in parliament and diplomats in the congregation. Pro-
fessor Wright delivered the sermon.

SERVICES HELD IN THE LEGATION AT PEKING.

Memorial services in honor of the late President McKinley were held
at the United States legation. Among those present were the mem-
bers of the diplomatic corps and the military oflicials in full uniform,
the members of the American colony, and Prince Ching and other
Chinese officials. The Spanish minister, Senor de Cologan, dean of
the diplomatic corps, tendered the sympathy of the diplomatists. Minis-
ter Conger thanked him in behalf of the American people.

IMPRESSIVE SERVICES IN THE PHILIPPINES.

There were impressive civil, military and naval observances in honor
of the late President McKinley. The mourning was universal. Most
of the business houses were closed.

After a service at the palace, the military escorted the civil officials
to the Luneta, where all the available troops, sailors and marines were
assembled, and paid honors to the late President in the presence of
thousands of spectators. The fleet at Cavite saluted.

Chief Justice Arellano in an address said all the Filipinos abhorred
the crime, and that the death of the great and good President would
cement the friendship of Americans and Filipinos. Priests in many
parts of the archipelago conducted services in honor of the dead. The
churches were crowded.

VENEZUELA SHOCKED BY THE BELATED NEWS.

Owing to the interruption of cable communication, the news of
the death of President McKinley was delayed in reaching here

Our Martyred President 57

Senor Blanco, the minister of foreign affairs, at once communicated his
regrets to Minister Bowen, and all the foreign ministers at Caracas called
officially and expressed their sympathy and regrets.

President Castro wrote a letter to Mr. Bowen, saying that Venezuela
is mourning the late President and expressing horror at the deed. The
President also ordered three days' mourning, with half-masted flags, and
begged Mr. Bowen to convey his regrets to Washington, which was
done.

Caracas was shocked by the news of the President's death, the
latest reports received here pointing to Mr. McKinley's recovery.

CHAPTER IV.

Tributes from Eminent Americans. Homage of a Great

City.

CLEVELAND LAUDS LATE PRESIDENT.

All formal exercises at Princeton University were suspended on
September 19, and at 11 o'clock memorial exercises were held in Alex-
ander Hall. The faculty and board of trustees attended the exercises
in their gowns without their hoods. The big hall was filled with
students and visitors, as the faculty, led by former President Cleveland
and President Patton, slowly filed up the aisle to the rostrum. President
Patton opened the exercises with prayer, read the forty-sixth psalm,
made a few remarks eulogizing the late President, and introduced Mr.
Cleveland, who was visibly affected, and, with tears in his eyes, eulogized
the dead President. Mr. Cleveland said, in part :

"Today the grave closes over the man that had been chosen by the
people of the United States to represent their sovereignty, to protect
and defend their constitution, to faithfully execute the laws made for
their welfare, and to safely uphold the integrity of the republic.

"He passes from the public sight not bearing the wreaths and gar-
lands of his countrymen's approving acclaim, but amid the sobs and tears
of a mourning nation. The whole nation loved their President. His
kindly disposition and affectionate traits, his amiable consideration for
all around him, will long be in the hearts of his countrymen. He loved
them in return with such patriotism and unselfishness that in this hour
of their grief and humiliation he would say to them : Tt is God's will ; I
am content. If there is a lesson in my life or death, let it be taught to
those who still live and have the destiny of their country in their keeping.'

NOT DUE TO EDUCATION.

"First in my thoughts are the lessons to be learned from the career
of William McKinley by the young men who make up the students today
of our university. They are not obscure or difficult. The man who is
universally mourned today was not deficient in education, but with all
you will have of his grand career and his services to his country, you will
not hear that what he accomplished was due entirely to his education. He

Our Martyred President 59

was an obedient and affectionate son, patriotic and faithful as a soldier,
honest and upright as a citizen, tender and devoted as a husband, and
truthful, generous, unselfish, moral and clean in every relation of life.

''He never thought any of those things too weak for his manliness.
Make no mistake. Here was a most distinguished man — a great man, a
useful man — who became distinguished, great and useful because he had,
and retained unimpaired, qualities of heart which I fear university
students sometimes feel like keeping in the background or abandoning.

"There is a most serious lesson for all of us in the tragedy of our
late President's death. If we are to escape further attacks upon our peace
and security we must boldly and resolutely grapple with the monster
of anarchy. It is not a thing that we can safely leave to be dealt with
by party or partisanship. Nothing can guarantee us against its menace
except the teaching and the practice of the best citizenship, the exposure
of the ends and aims of the gospel of discontent and hatred of social
order, and the brave enactment and execution of repressive laws.

"The universities and colleges cannot refuse to join in the battle
against the tendencies of anarchy. Their help in discovering and warring
against the relationship between the vicious councils and deeds of blood
and their steadying influence upon the elements of unrest cannot fail
to be of inestimable value. By the memory of our martyred President,
let us resolve to cultivate and preserve the qualities that made him
great and useful, and let us determine to meet the call of patriotic duty
in every time of our country's danger or need." •

WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN.

"The horrible deed at Buffalo, rudely breaking the ties of family and
friendship and horrifying every patriotic citizen, crowns a most extraor-
dinary life with a halo that cannot but exalt its victim's place in history,
while his bravery during the trying ordeal, his forgiving spirit and his
fortitude in the final hours give glimpses of his inner life which nothing
less tragic could have revealed.

"But in expressing, sad as it is, the death of McKinley, the illustrious
citizen, it is the damnable murder of McKinley, the President, that melts
seventy-five million hearts into one and brings a hush to the farm, the
factory and the forum.

"Death is the inevitable incident of every human career. It despises
the sword and shield of the warrior and laughs at the precautions
suggested by science. Wealth cannot build walls high enough or thick
enough to shut it out, and no house is humble enough to escape its
visitation. Even love, the most potent force known to man; love, the
characteristic which links the human to the divine, even love is powerless

6o Life of William McKinley

in its presence. Its contingency is recognized in the marriage vow,
'Until death do ns part,' and is written upon friendship's ring.

"But the death, even when produced by natural causes, of a public
servant charged with the tremendous responsibilities which press upon a
President, shocks the entire country and is infinitely multiplied when the
circumstances attending constitute an attack upon the government itself.

"No one can estimate the far-reaching effect of such an act as that
which now casts a gloom over our land. It shames America in the eyes
of the world; it impairs her moral prestige and gives enemies of free
government a chance to mock at her, and it excites an indignation which,
while righteous in itself, may lead to acts which will partake of the spirit
of lawlessness.

"As the President's death overwhelms all in a common sorrow, so it
imposes a common responsibility — namely, to so avenge the wrong done
to the President, his family and the country as to make the executive life
secure without interfering with the freedom of speech or freedom of the
press."

Mr. Bryan treated of the parting of husband and wife at Buffalo,
saying :

"The dispatches report that Mrs. McKinley took a seat at the bedside
and held the President's hand; the distinguished sufferer looked into the
face of his good wife and said in a low tone : "We must bear up. It
will be better for us both." With tears streaming down her cheeks, Mrs.
McKinley nodded assenj:.

"There may be some people who have no idea of the thoughts that
were passing through the minds of this couple at that moment. There
are, however, others who can imagine what these thoughts were.

There on the bed of pain lay the strong, powerful man ; by his side sat
the frail woman, whose physical weakness has been for some years the
subject of this husband's tender solicitude. In a humble way they began
life together. Two little graves had for them a common interest. In
prosperity and adversity they had stood together, participating in the joys
and sharing all sorrows of life.

CARDINAL GIBBONS PRAISES m'kINLEY.

Memorial services were almost universal on September 19 throughout
Maryland, many congregations meeting and uniting in other than their
own places of worship. Perhaps the most important and impressive were
the ceremonies at the cathedral in this city, at which Cardinal Gibbons
delivered the following eulogy :

"It has been my melancholy experience, in the course of my sacred
ministry, to be startled by the assassination of three Presidents of the

JAMES WILSON
Secretary of Agriculture

Our Martyred President 6i

United States. Abraham Lincoln was shot in 1865, James A. Garfield
was mortally wounded in 1881, and William McKinley received a fatal
wound on the sixth day of September. Mr. Lincoln was shot in a
theater; Mr. Garfield was shot while about to take a train to enjoy a
needed vacation, and our late beloved President fell by the hand of an
assassin while lending the prestige of his name and influence to the
success of a national exposition.

"In the annals of crime it is difiicult to find an instance of murder so
atrocious, so wanton and meaningless as the assassination of-Mr. McKin-
ley. Some reason or pretext has been usually assigned for the sudden
taking away of earthly rulers. Baltassar, the impious king of Chaldea,
spent his last night in reveling and drunkenness. He was suddenly
struck dead by the hand of the Lord.

"How different was the life of our chief magistrate! No court in
Europe or in the civilized world was more conspicuous for moral recti-
tude and purity, or more free from the breath of scandal, than the
official home of President McKinley. He would have adorned any court
in Christendom by his civic virtues.

"The Redeemer of mankind was betrayed by the universal symbol of
love. If I may reverently make the comparison, the President was
betrayed by the universal emblem of friendship. Christ said to Judas :
'Friend, betrayest thou the Son of Man with a kiss ?' The President could
have said to his slayer : 'Betrayest thou the head of the nation with the
grasp of the hand ?' He was struck down surrounded by a host of his
fellow citizens, every one of whom would have gladly risked his life in
defense of his beloved chieftain.

"Few Presidents were better equipped than Mr. McKinley for the
exalted position which he filled. When a mere youth he entered the
Union army as a private soldier during the Civil War, and was promoted
for gallant service on the field of battle to the rank of major. He served
his country for fourteen years in the halls of congress, and toward the
close of his term he became one of the most conspicuous figures in that
body. He afterward served his state as governor.

"As President he was thoroughly conversant with the duties of his
office, and could enter into its most minute details. His characteristic
virtues were courtesy and politeness, patience and forbearance, and mas-
terly self-control under very trying circumstances. When unable to grant
a favor, he had the rare and happy talent to disappoint the applicant
without offending him.

"The domestic virtues of Mr. McKinley were worthy of all praise.
He was a model husband. Amid the pressing and engrossing duties of
his official life he would from time to time snatch a few moments to

62 Life of William McKinley

devote to the invalid and loving partner of his joys and sorrows. Oh,
what a change has come over this afflicted woman ! Yesterday she was
the first lady of the land. Today she is a disconsolate and broken-
hearted widow. Let us beseech him who comforted the widow of Nain
that he console this woman in her hours of desolation.

"It is a sad reflection that some fanatic or miscreant has it in his
power to take the life of the head of the nation and to throw the whole
country into mourning. It was no doubt this thought that inspired some
writers witWn the last few days to advise that the President should hence-
fourth abstain from public receptions and hand-shaking, and that greater
protection should be given to his person.

"You might have him surrounded with cohorts, defended with bayo-
nets, and have him followed by argus-eyed detectives, and yet he would
not be proof against the stroke of the assassin. Are not the crowned
heads of Europe usually attended by military forces, and yet how many
of them have perished at the hand of some criminal ! No ; let the Presi-
dent continue to move among his people and take them by the hand.

LOVE IS HIS STRONGEST SHIELD.

"The strongest shield of our chief magistrate is the love and devotion
of his fellow citizens. The most effective way to stop such trimes is to
inspire the rising generation with greater reverence for the constituted
authorities, and a greater horror for any insult or injury to their person.
All seditious language should be suppressed. Incendiary speech is too
often an incentive to criminal acts on the part of many to whom the tran-
sition from words to deeds is easy.

'■'Let it be understood, once for all, that the authorities are determined
to crush the serpent of anarchy whenever it lifts its venomous head.

"We have prayed for the President's life, but it did not please God to
grant our petition. Let no one infer from this that our prayers were in
vain. No fervent prayer ascending to the throne of heaven remains
unanswered. Let no one say what a woman remarked to me on the
occasion of President Garfield's death :

" T have prayed,' she said, 'for the President's life. My family
have prayed for him, our congregation prayed for him, the city prayed
for him. the state prayed for him, the nation prayed for him, and yet he
died. What, then, is the use of prayer?'

GOD ANSWERS ALL PRAYERS.

"God answers our petitions either directly or indirectly. If he does
not grant us what we ask he gives us something equivalent or better. If
He has fiot saved the life of the President, He preserves the life of tlie

Our Martyred President 62

nation, which is of more nnportance than the life of an individual. He
has infused into the hearts of the American people a greater reverence for
the head of the nation, and a greater abhorrence of assassination.

"He has intensified and energized our love. of country and our devo-
tion to our political institutions. What a beautiful spectacle to behold
prayers ascendinj from tens of thousands of temples throughout the
land to the throne of mercy. Is not this universal uplifting of minds
and hearts to God a sublime profession of our faith and trust in Him ?
Is not this national appeal to Heaven a most eloquent recognition of
God's superintending providence over us ? And such earnest and united
prayers will not fail to draw down upon us the blessings of the Almighty.

"The President is dead. Long live the President! William McKinley
has passed away, honored and mourned by the nation. Theodore Roose-
velt succeeds to the title, the honors and the responsibilities of the presi-
dential office. Let his fellow citizens rally around him. Let them uphold
and sustain him in bearing the formidable burden suddenly thrust upon
him. May he be equal to the emergency and fulfill his duties with credit
to himself, and may his administration redound to the peace and pros-
perity of the American people."

ARCHBISHOP IRELAND SPEAKS WITH SORROW.

Archbishop Lxland was the principal speaker at the public memorial
service in St. Paul, Minn. He addressed fifteen thousand persons at the
Auditorium, saying in part :

"America mourns. From sea to sea the hearts of the people are rent,
and their lips tremble into words of sorrow and regret. And in sympathy
with America the world mourns. William JMcKinley is dead, motionless,
voiceless, powerless. All is over with him save the memory of his passage
through life. Death is dreadful in its savage mastery over man. Amer-
ica, affrighted, bows before its resistless scepter.

"Needless to praise William McKinley. The universal, the unexam-
pled outpouring of love going forth from the people of America speaks
with all-sufficing eloquence. Greatness and goodness were indeed
entwined around the name, else the name would not stir up, as it does,
into deepest emotions the hearts of a whole people.

"Oh, God of Nations, has it come to this, that we must ask ourselves
whether liberty is to be allowed on earth, such as we have worshiped in
our dreams and sought to embody in the institutions of America? But
God reigns, and liberty will reign. Not against liberty must we unsheatli
our swords, but against license, that daughter of hell which drapes itself
in the robes of the daughter of heaven and dares call itself liberty."

64 Life of William McKinley

SENATOR SHELBY M. CULLOM.

"The death of President McKinley is one of the saddest events in
American history. Sad not only on account of his great value to the
country and the community in which he lived, and to his enfeebled wife,
but sadder still on account of the manner of his taking off. I do not feel
that I can talk about his death. It seemed to me that it could scarcely
be tolerated, or that it can be true, that President McKinley is dead.
Why any human being could feel that he could afford to slay such a
man is more than I c*an understand.

''President McKinley had a heart for all the oppressed. There was
not a fiber of his nature that did not harmonize with the great body
of people of the country and of the world. He was more notably, and
positively and earnestly, the friend of the people than perhaps any Presi-
dent we have ever had. President Lincoln had- a great heart, and his soul
was full of sympathy for the oppressed. President Garfield was full of
generosity, kindness and interest for the great masses of the people, but
President McKinley seemed to be even more continually interested in
the welfare of his country and of the common people than either of them,
and yet it falls to his lot to be foully, cowardly and sneakingly stricken
down by a villain claiming to be doing what is in the interest of the
country.

"If is not the time now, however, to say very much on the subject,
but one cannot refrain from saying that unless this government shall
adopt some vigorous measures for the protection of its high officials, no
good man will be willing to occupy the position now just made vacant by
the death of President McKinley.

CAPITAL IN MOURNING.

Washington joined in the nation's funeral day tribute to William
McKinley. All public offices and many private business houses were
closed at the time fixed for beginning the funeral service at Canton ; street
cars on all lines were stopped for five minutes; there was a general
suspension of work, and all thoughts turned to Canton, where the last
offices of his church were being said over him whom Washington knew
not only as the President of the United States, but as William McKinley
the man.

Memorial services were held in the churches of all denominations,
and Jew and Gentile, Roman Catholic and Protestant joined in their
tribute to those qualities of the dead chief magistrate which endeared him
to the professors of all religions.

A<- All Souls' Unitarian Church, after Commissioner of Labor Carroll

p. C. KNOX
Attorney General

Our Martyred President 65

D. Wright had spoken of the hfe of the dead President and the lessons
to be learned from it, Secretary of the Navy John D. Long delivered a
brief address.

TRIBUTE OF SECRETARY JOHN D. LONG.

Secretary Long said that as a member of the congregation and as one
of the President's official household it was his duty to express before that
congregation his appreciation of President McKinley's exemplary Chris-
tian life.

"Our mourning is great," Secretary Long said, "but our mourning
for his death should be less than our gratitude for his life. It is fitting
that all denominations of the Christian church are one in the recognition
of his virtues and the examples of his life. His was a life of modesty
and virtue, typical of the best that is in American manhood.

"Mr. Wright has spoken of McKinley's bright-eyed boyhood; of the
sweet home influence of his mother and father, whose teachings were
never forgotten ; of his eager schoolboy days, of his career as a soldier —
a soldier distinguished by his readiness to risk his life in carrying succor
to his comrades; of his legal and political triumphs; of his service in
congress, and of his career as President. His was an administration
more significant than any since the time of Lincoln, with whom he ranks.

WAS A MAN OF PEACE.

"But amid all the strenuous strife and turmoil of the last war it is as
a man of peace that we think of McKinley. The residents of Washington
will mourn less the death of the statesman than the passing away of the
fellow citizen. It is for his many traits of kindness that he was dearly
loved. The lawyer, the statesman, the President, are revered and appre-
ciated, but his simple human qualities cause McKinley to be loved most.
His greatest impulse was always to do all in his power to make his fellow
men better and happier."

JUSTICE DAVID BREWER.

Justice David Brewer of the Supreme Court of the United States,
who was one of the speakers at the First Congregational Church, spoke
of the popular demand that the anarchists must go. He said in part :

"What shall we do? Many things are suggested. On every side we
hear strong language expressive of the public horror at the crime. 'An-
archists must go; anarchism must be stamped out.' Some are eager to
take the law into their own hands and deal out summary justice upon all
who bear the odious name. They would rejoice to see every anarchist
speedily put to death.

66 Life of William McKinley

"Others are demanding that new legislation be enacted, while execu-
tives and legislators are declaring that in the coming winter they will see
to it that laws are passed to drive anarchism from our borders. I may
not discuss the terms of proposed legislation, as no one foresees eitlier
what it may do or what questions may arise out of it.

"But there are lessons to be drawn from the assassination of President
McKinley by an anarchist which I wish to notice. One which should be
borne home to every citizen of the nation, whether in or out of office, is
the necessity of a personal respect for law. We denounce the assassination
as a horrible crime. We denounce anarchism as the spirit of lawlessness
and its followers as outlaws because they look upon all forms of govern-
ment as wrong and all men in office as their enemies.

"But while anarchism may be the extreme of lawlessness, and
anarchists the worst of outlaws, every breaking of the law breathes,
though perhaps in a slight degree, the same spirit of lawlessness. Exam-
ple is better than precept, and every one may well remember that he does
something toward checking the spirit of lawlessness and preventing the
spread of anarchism when, in his own life, he manifests a constant and
willing obedience in letter and spirit to all the mandates of the law.

"Again, the anarchist declares that all government is wrong. He
professes to be the enemy of all rulers. Social institutions, as they are,
he denounces, pleading that they are unjust and oppressive. Now, if the
workings of the social order are made such as to insure justice and peace
and comfort to all, slowly the spirit of anarchism w411 disappear, for all
will feel that society as it exists is a blessing rather than a curse to them.

WORK MUST BE DONE.

"And each one of us may in his place and life help to make all those
workings of society cleaner and better, gentler and purer — more helpful
to those who need, less burdensome to those who toil and richer in all
things to all men.

"If the American people shall not spend all its energies in denuncia-
tion of this awful crime, or in efforts by force to remove anarchism and
anarchists from our midst, but, moved and touched by the sad lesson,
shall strive to fill the social life with more sweetness and blessing, then
will it be that William McKinley, great in life, will become, partly on
account of the circumstances of his death, greater and more influential
in the future ; an enduring blessing to the nation of which he was the
honored ruler."

AMERICANS IN FRANCE ADOPT RESOLUTIONS.

By invitation of General Horace Porter, the United States ambassa-
dor, the resident and traveling Americans met at his residence to adopt

Our Martyred President 67

resolutions on the assassination of President ]\IcKinley. The attend-
ance was numerous, inckiding many ladies dressed in mourning. General
Porter presided at the meeting. Senator Lodge, Secretary Vignaud and
Consul-General Gowdy were the vice-presidents.

General Porter, in feeling terms, announced the purpose of the meet-
ing. Senator Lodge, in moving the adoption of the resolutions, elo-
quently outlined the career of the late President and his administration.
The senator alluded in grateful terms to the touching manifestation of
sympathy shown by the people of Paris and France at the sorrow of
the American republic. The following resolution was voted :

"William McKinley, President of the United States, is dead. He
w^as an eminent statesman, soldier and patriot, and a great chief magis-
trate, whose administration will stand out as one of the most eventful
and illustrious in American history. He has fallen at the zenith of his
fame, in the height of a great career, by the hand of an assassin. The
enormity of the wanton crime, measured by the grievous loss, has brought
sorrow to the republic and all her citizens.

"We, Americans, now in Paris, desire to make a public record of the
feeling which at this hour of grief w-e share with all our countrymen.
With them we unite in profound sorrow for the untimely death of Presi-
dent McKinley, as w-ell as in admiration of his character as a man and his
great public services, which have brought so much honor to the republic.

"We wish to declare our utter abhorrence of the foul crime to which
President McKinley fell a victim and of the teachings which produced it.

"To her whom the President gave a lifelong devotion as pure as it
was beautiful, we offer our deepest, heartfelt sympathy.

"To President Roosevelt, called so suddenly and under such sad
conditions to the presidency, we present our sincere and respectful sympa-
thy, and w^ould also express our generous confidence, in the hope and
belief that his administration will redound to his own honor and to the
gt v^ral welfare of our country.

■'We are profoundly grateful to the president and people of our sister
republic for their quick sympathy and touching expressions of condolence
at this moment of great national sorrow of the LTnited States."

THE REV. DR. H. W. THOMAS.

"Li these great hours of a nation's distress we have forgotten our
debates, and the one thing heard from all our hearts is that our martyred
President was a good man ; that he loved the people, loved his country,
loved God, and was trying to lead in the ways that he and the majority
of the people thought best."

68 Life of William McKiniey

EX-CONGRESSMAN GEORGE E. ADAMS.

"President McKiniey had a habit of leaning- on public opinion. It
has been called a weakness. It may be a weakness in a reformer or a
prophet. But in a president it is strength, as Lincoln knew. For being
slow to go to war, in the recent affair witli Spain, he was brutally
denounced by those who are his eulogists today. In holding back the
government from war until he felt sure that the people insisted on war,
the President acted as a friend of peace and obeyed the letter and the
spirit of the constitution.

"McKinley's Buffalo speech, his last message to his countrymen, he
could not have made ten years ago. It is more than a lesson in eco-
nomics. It teaches that an American statesman must have an open,
receptive mind. He must be willing to be taught by events. His polit-
ical wisdom is to ascertain and express the sober second thought of the
people."

FATHER KELLY PRALSES m'kINLEY.

The Rev. Father Kelly, chaplain of the Seventh Regiment, pro-
nounced a beautiful eulogy at the great Auditorium meeting in Chicago.
Father Kelly, among other things, said :

"The universal and heartfelt sorrow in the untimely death of our
noble President is ample evidence of the Christian and manly virtues
which have placed him in the esteem and affection of his fellow men.
The more good a man does in this world to the greater honor and glory
of God and for the benefit of God's children — his neighbors — the more he
is esteemed and the more general is the grief when the hand of death is
laid upon him.

"Judging by this standard, great must have been the moral worth
and magnificent beyond compare the acts of kindly brotherhood per-
formed by our lamented President during his life. His quahties as Presi-
dent, as husband, and as man, can stand the searchlight of any scrutiny,
and will leave their impression on the pages of our history.

"McKinley's standard of manhood was not measured by dollars. His
ideal was not arrogance of power and authority. Imbued with these
high ideals and living up to them in public and private life, he never
worshiped at the shrines of the false gods of modern progress and avarice
He never believed that the end justified the means. He never did a
wrong that good might follow, but strove on all occasions to follow the
laws of the Great Ruler — 'do good and fear no one.' "

PRESIDENT ANGELL, UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN.

"The title that is most likely to come to our martyred President is
that of 'The Well Beloved.' Washington had a dignified severity that

Our Martyred President 69

left a space between himself and the people. Lincoln was loved by only
half the nation when he died. The old animosities between the North
and South had not expired when Garfield passed away. But since
^IcKinley came into office the blue and the gray have been united. He
won the hearts of the southern people and cemented a nation.

"His was the average American life in a glorified form. He was
pure, simple, genial and land. So long as he dominated our affairs he
could be dealt with by foreign powers with sincerity, and this is the
secret of the great influence of this nation in the administration of for-
eign affairs."

ANDREW D. WHITE, UNITED STATES AMBASSADOR TO GERMANY.

"President McKinley undoubtedly will pass into the history of the
United States as one of the great Presidents. None of his predecessors
ever showed so broad and thorough a knowledge of the main questions
relating to our industry and commerce.

"On all subjects in these fields he showed not merely talent but
genius. A high evidence of this was given in his speech at Buffalo just
before he was shot. Plaving done more than any other to build up tlie
ereat industries of the nation, he then and there showed how new markets
could be found and how our industries could be made more effective m
multiplying our relations with other powers.

"During his lifetime, in the heat of partisan strife, he was charged
A\ ith being devoted to the interests of capital, but when viewed heretifter
by the historian it certainly will be seen that his care for the interests
of capital was the result of his devotion to labor and to the deepest
interests of the plain people, from whom he sprang. He knew that the
interests of capital and labor cannot be disassociated. Never has a
President planned more wisely or toiled more earnestly for the laboring

man."

ADDRESS OF SENATOR HOAR AT WORCESTER.

Senator Hoar made the principal address at the memorial in Wor-
cester. He said in part :

"The voice of love and sorrow to-day is not that which cometh
from the lips. Since the tidings came from the dwelling at whose
door all mankind was listening, silence, the inward prayer, the quiver-
ing lip, the tears of women and bearded men have been the token of
an affection which no other man left alive has inspired.

"This is the third time within the memory of men not yet old that
the head of the republic has been stricken down in his high place by
the hand of an assassin. Each of them was a man of the people.

"We shall, I hope, in due time, soberly, when the tempest of grief

70 Life of William McKinley

has passed by, find means for additional security against the repetition
of a crime Hke this. We shall go as far as we can without sacrificing
personal liberty to repress the doctrine which in effect is nothing but
counseling murder.

"We shall also, I hope, learn to moderate the bitterness of political
strife, and to avoid the savage attack on the motive and character of
men who are charged by the people with public responsibilities in high
places. This fault, while I think it is already disappearing from ordi-
nary political and sectional controversy, seems to linger still among
our scholars and men of letters.

"The moral is, not that we should abate our zeal for justice and
righteousness, our condemnation of wrong, but only that we should
abate the severity of our judgment of the motives of men from whom
we differ."

TRIBUTE OF m'kINLEY's COMRADES.

As a last tribute to their beloved President, who was borne to his
final resting place on September 19, the Grand Army Hall and Memorial
Association of Chicago adopted fitting resolutions which are eulogistic
of the life of that noble statesman and strongly condemnatory of the
outbursts of anarchy, whose adherent made a martyr of the nation's
chief. The resolutions were framed and presented by a committee
composed of Francis A. Riddle, Judge Richard S. Tuthill, Charles
Fitz Simmons, W. L .B. Jenney and John C. Black.

The memorial as it was unanimously adopted follows :

"William McKinley, the twenty-sixth President of the United States
of America, was cruelly slain on the 6th day of September, 1901.

"The universal grief caused by the malicious deed which took from
the world this good, wise, courageous and lovable man is sincerely shared
by the members of the Grand Army Hall and Memorial Association
of Illinois. We come, as loyal citizens of our beloved republic, to this
temple dedicated to patriotism, recognizing the authority as well as the
necessity of human government, with an unfaltering trust in the supreme
reign of moral laws and in the final triumph of righteousness throughout
the earth in this hour of humiliation and grave anxiety, deepened by
inexpressible sorrow, to manifest our loving regard for a departed com-
rade, to emphasize our unmeasured respect for one who was lately
the honored and beloved chief magistrate of the nation, to acknowledge
the priceless benefits which have resulted to our common country from
the faithful services of an exalted character, and to express our sense
of indignation for the malign influences and malevolent purposes which
led to the most inexcusable and villainous assassination known in the
history of civilized man.

Our Martyred President 71

"To speak in praise of McKinley would- be only to utter exclama-
tions of gratitude for benefactions which flow from a virtuous life. In
everything which centers in the fabric of a great and good character, the
life and career of William McKinley furnishes one of the brightest and
noblest examples.

"As patriot, soldier, citizen, statesman and Christian man he leaves
to his country and to the world a record and a fame among the most
illustrious and exalted of all those who, by the exercise of courage,
wisdom, patience and integrity, have achieved the highest stations in
human aft'airs with the sole purpose of promoting the welfare of their
country and their kind.

"His name and his fame will be alike imperishable, and in the rec-
ord of the good deeds of one human life, the leaves which go to make
up his will be unsurpassed either in brilliancy or in number. He was
by nature a strong, earnest, lovable and loving man. He inherited
integrity of purpose, vigor of mind, far-sighted wisdom and a clean
heart.

NATION MOURNS HIS LOSS.

'*AI1 else that goes to make up his distinguished career and to crown
the years of his life with unfading glory was won by him in the wide
field open to all human endeavor. And so great was his success, so
fascinating was his unique career that in his life all righteous men the
world over appreciated and honored his exalted character, recognized
his unexampled power, and felt his unequaled and salutary influence in
the affairs of men. And in his death the nation mourns, and the people
weep for one who was beloved. And so at last, 'having served his own
generation, he fell asleep.'

"But looking back upon the record of our country for the past forty
years, we feel it our imperati\'e duty to pledge anew our fealty to the
government and institutions which, in common with our stricken com-
rade in arms, we lielped, as citizen soldiers of the republic, to preserve.
And now, as citizens marching with uncovered heads beneath the flag
of our country, so greatly loved and honored, and so highly advanced
by William ]\IcKinley, and having no thought or hope or wish but that
the rights, liberties and privileges of the American citizen shall be
adequately protected, we call upon all those in authority to hearken unto
the impressive lesson of the sad event which calls us together here.

• NO PLACE FOR ANARCHY.

"The rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are inaliena-
ble. They are the necessary incidents of every human being, and for

72 Life of William McKinley

the purpose of protecting all men in the enjoyment of these priceless
blessings guaranteed by the constitution of our country, the government
which we honor and respect was instituted by the fathers of the nation.
That government and all the sacred purposes for which it was created
we cherish, but the spirit and purpose of all those who would destroy
or subvert its objects, cripple or restrain its powers, molest or murder
its lawful officers and servants, we denounce and condemn to the utter-
most. Anarchy has no right, legally or morally, to hide its monster
head beneath our flag and live.

"The spirit of anarchy originates in sin, feeds on hate, fattens on
revenge, and revels in infamy. Its teachings and its acts alike are
criminal. Its teachers and its disciples have no motive but destruction,
and their sole aim is to blot out civilization and crush forever all sem-
blance of social order and individual right.

SHOULD BE DRIVEN OUT.

"A community of anarchists is a den of vipers, and its breath is the
poison of death to everything among men that is pure, holy, sweet,
tender, righteous and merciful. The vicious spirits who could suggest
or compass the hideous deed perpetrated at Buffalo on September 6
have no right either in life, liberty or the pursuit of happiness,

"The freedom of speech and the liberty of the press do not imply
license to destroy the government by which alone free speech and a free
press may be maintained, and the people of the United States have the
right and the power under the constitution to drive out and forever
prevent all associations, combinations and conspiracies of malign
individuals whose sole aim is to promote vice, commit crime and destroy
the foundations of social order."

MANKIND AT SALUTE.
I.

Where meets the touch of lips — ■

Where closes clasp of hand —
Where sail the stately ships —

Where blooms each flowering land ;
Where palm and pine trees shed

Their balm of bough and leaf,
A world bends low its head

In brotherhood of grief.

Our Martyred President \ 73

Out of the distance, infinite, vast —

Echo of myriad marching feet —
Riseth a prayer when all is past :

"Take him, O God : his life was sweet."

II.

Where sultry sun beats down —

Where shining ice-fields gleam —
Where pathless forests frown —

Where languid islands dream:
Mankind stands at salute

Wherever thought has birth;
A universe is mute,

A dirge goes round the earth.

Out of the distance — mystical, tender —

Whispered appeal to forever endure —
Riseth a prayer to the Great Defender:

"Take him, O God : his life was pure."

III.

Where breathes a clown or king —
. Where prince and pauper stride —

Where races sigh or sing —

Where woe or pomp abide :
Downcast and soft of tread,

Churl, statesman, beggar, slave.
Walk for a moment with the dead —

A world weeps at a grave.

And out of the distance, falling, falling—
INIurmured appeal for the martyred dust —

Cometh the prayer of the nations calling :
"Take him,'0 God: his life was just."
Harold Richard Vynnc, in Chicago Inter Ocean.

A STRIKING COINCIDENCE.

On September 20, 1881, the Methodist Ecumenical Conference was
in session in London, when the news of President Garfield's death was
announced. Prayers were offered for the departed President's family
and for the American republic. Tributes of respect were passed by the

74 Life of William McKinley

delegates to the memory of the martyred executive. On Wednesday,
September 7, 1901, the Methodist Ecumenical Conference was holding
its services when the dastardly act of the assassin of President McKin-
ley was made known. Bishop Benjamin W. Arnett, D. D., of the
African Methodist Episcopal church was the presiding officer.

Bishop Arnett was a personal friend of Mr. McKinley, and one of
his most ardent admirers. In his address he said :

"A sad calamity has befallen our nation and befallen the civilized
world. The President of the United States, William McKinley, is a
man who exemplifies in his life the Christian religion, and also the prin-
ciples of Methodism. A Christian from early manhood, he has pro-
ceeded through all the mazes of our political life, and he stands to-day
without a stain on his character or his fame. We feel that we ought
to give expression to our sentiment, and to express our sympathy in this
hour."

Bishop Galloway, of the Methodist Episcopal church (South) said:

"I wish I could command my feelings this morning so that I could
speak what is in my heart. How profoundly grateful we are, as breth-
ren of the other side of the sea and citizens of the United States, for the
sentiments that have been expressed by our brethren here. Wo remem-
ber twenty years ago when our President was stricken down liy the
bullet of an assassin, how earnestly you prayed for his recovery, and we
remember that your gracious queen laid a wreath of flowers upon his
coffin, and this whole nation followed at his bier and joined us in weep-
ing over the loss of our honored dead. I speak for the southern section
of my great country — that section which was once separated from our
brethren in the north by clashing interests and then by an ever-to-bc-
lamented war. I have long been glad that there was a star on our
national flag that answers to the name of Mississippi, my native state.
I live in the state of Jefferson Davis, who will go down to history as the
chief of a lost cause. I am sure there is not a citizen in that great com-
monwealth to-day, nor has there been for many years, that has not re-
joiced that we have been restored as a union, that w-e are all members
of the same great national family, that we sit at the same bountiful
board, and are all equally members in our Father's house. We cannot
forget that ,others have done so much to bring us close together, nor
forget the years of stormy war; w-e cannot forget the words spoken by
this noble Christian President, who, in visiting our southern section
not many months ago, and addressing those who had borne arms as^ainst
the great principles which he thouglit to be right, desired that all the
memories of that struggle should be wiped away from the feelings of
our countrymen, and he suggested that the graves of the Confederate

Our Martyred President 75

soldiers should be protected and decorated by the government, alon
with those which contained the fallen on the Federal side. We at thi
conference talked yesterday about peace. William McKinley was the
incarnation of peace. But above everything else he illustrated those
private and domestic virtues which have made our country great, and
which make all civilization great.

"Our President has been stricken down, for whose precious life we
so pray. Great as a statesman, distinguished as a leader, lofty in his
patriotism, devoted, not only as a citizen of our great country, but of our
Methodism — we know how he has illustrated these virtues in turning
away from the cares of state to minister during her illness to the noble
woman who has walked by his side so long. The country that has pure
homes and pure fathers and husbands must be a great country. We
reciprocate these kindly expressions from our brethren on this side of
the sea."

ORDER OF LOYAL LEGION,

Acting Secretary of War Sanger received the following announce-
ment from General Schofield :

"Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States — Command-
er y in Chief:

'TniLADELPHiA, Pa., Sept. 14, 1901. — I. The commander in chief
announces with feeling of the deepest sorrow that the president of the
United States, Companion Major William McKinley, was assassinated
at Buffalo, N. Y., on Sept. 6, 1901, and died at Buffalo, N. Y., Sept.
14, 1901.

"2. Appropriate action expressive of the nation's great loss and of
our bereavement will be taken by the commanderies of the order at the
first meeting after the receipt of this circular.

"3. The colors of the commanderies will be draped for a period of
ninety days.

"Lieutenant General John M. Schofield,

"U. S. A., Commander in Chief.
"John P. Nicholson, Brevet Lieutenant Colonel, U. S. V., •
"Recorder in Chief."

silence^ the hushed and solemn tribute of a great city.

Five minutes of silence in Chicago, minutes when all the world
seemed dumb and motionless. That was the sum and crown cf Thurs-
day's somber ceremony. It was 2 130 o'clock when the whirr of the city
ceased suddenly as if some unseen hand had fallen upon it. The raucous

^^ Life of William McKinley

clangor of rushing wheels and harsh gongs stopped, the dull rumble of
unseen engines ceased, and in the crowded streets, where multitudes of
men and women stood watching the solemn pageantry, a stillness so
profound and perfect fell that the city seemed dead and ghostly, its
smokeless buildings and its voiceless pavements, like the towers and
vistas of a lost Atlantis.

The pause was so brief and utter that it is not possible to describe
or foreet it. Nature was at the moment in one of those moods that
is eloquent of silence. The clouds hung low and gray. No breeze
murmured in the high places, and from tower and spire and staff the
flags drooped sullen and listless. The floor of the lake w^as leaden
and still.

When the moment of silence came, great steamers bound for port
or pointed toward the further shore stopped their throbbing engines
and lay adrift. Fast trains rushing toward the city paused and stood
still. Street cables stopped, electric currents were shut off from flying
trolleys, and rumbling elevated trains became fixed and soundless.

Even the voice of funeral bells tolling in the residence districts of
Chicago fell faint and far during that five minutes of silence. There
was no breeze to bear the dull thunder across the city, and so it was
heard in the downtown streets vaguely as an echo.

But it was the silence of the million people wdio surged in the street
that was most eloquent. Pushing in counter currents in every thorough-
fare within the loop, jostling and murmuring, calling to friends among
the marchers and spectators, crooning the sad measures of funeral
march or hymn, the swarming sea of humanity made a murmur that
rose dully even above the blare of bands and the tramp of marching
feet. At Michigan avenue and Van Buren street, as the parade swept
slowly past, there was almost a bedlam of unpremeditated disorder.
The streets were choked from wall to w^all. A tide of new spectators
was rushing in from the tributary streets, the line of march was clogged
again and again. In vain the mounted police and patrolmen charged
upon the throng. Women shrieked and grew faint in the maelstrom
and men seemed to be fighting for place of escape. It was in the midst
of this bedlam that a tall horseman in the parade suddenly reined
his horse.

He doffed his helmet and, waving it above the turbulent crowd,
shouted "Hats off!"

At once the sea of struggling men and women became calm. They
stood transfixed and silent in their places. Hats withdrawn! w^ere held
across hearts, and women bowed their heads in silent prayer. The
murmurs died away. The cannon that was booming a President's salute

Our Martyred President "j']

spoke 110 more. The trumpets hushed the funeral fanfare, the niuftlecl
drums were still. The men with arms stood at salute like statues. The
long column halted. And the wordless panegyric which then became
eloquent for five full minutes seemed to have more meaning in it than
all the rhetoric, and all the music, and all the black and purple mourn-
ing trappings that the world had lavished upon the memory of the
great dead. As by some incomparable sympathy the multitude seemed
to know^ that at that moment the grave at Canton was closing forever
upon the murdered President, that the ultimate time had come for
memory, and tears and prayers.

When the clock showed that the half-hour was five minutes old,
the sound of singing voices coming from the balcony of the Chicago
Club intoned the first line of "Nearer, My God, to Thee." Quavering
at first and thin, the chant arose. One by one the men and women in
the streets took up the chorus, till the volume of song, piercing and
strong bv verv contrast \\A\X\ the late silence, rose into mighty diapason
of melody that was vocal with sorrow, worship and hope. Along the
marching column the bands caught the spirit of the stately hymn, and
the wave of music that swelled in unison then was like the sound of a
great "Amen.''

The whole character of the day's ceremonial in Chicago was marked
by the most extraordinary decorum. It spoke in the subdued voices
of the people, and shone in the grave little faces of the children. The
lowering skies added to the somber aspect of the city, and the sad or
spiritual motive of the music enhanced the meaning of the demonstra-
tion with a rare and exquisite tenderness.

An hour before the funeral pageant had passed away a gentle rain
began to fall in fitful showers. The wind sprang up again and whistled
dismally among the wires. But the crowds, steadfast in their quiet
sorrow, remained in their places till the last rank had passed.

INCIDENTS ILLUSTRATING THE DEPTH OF FEELING THAT MARKED THE

DAY AS OBSERVED IN CHICAGO.

When the moment for silence came the vacant presidential carriage
halted under the windows of the Chicago Club. When the word was
given to move forward again and the carriage started on the journey
through the lane of loving hearts the thousands about the starting
point gazed on a spectacle that in its significance and wonderful les-
son can never be forgotten by any who saw it. The Eighth regiment
of the Illinois National Guard, consisting of colored troops, was pre-
ceded by its own band, the members of which were only a few feet
away from the empty carriage. All about and behind them in process

78 Life of William McKinley

of formation were the old warriors of the Confederacy and the Union.
The band had been ordered to play "Nearer, My God, to Thee." In-
stead these black men, guided by some inspiration that seemed to seize
them and catch up in its embrace the tens of thousands within their
hearing, swung forward to the strains of "Dixie." It was too much
for hearts already full to overflowing, and the pent-up feeling found
vent in a long subdued cheer, a cheer of blent pain and delight, an un-
graven epitaph flung out to heaven in memory of the martyr whose
acts had made such an incident possible. It was the only moment of
all that long march that a cheer was heard from the hundreds of thous-
ands in the down-town streets. But it was a cheer and a prayer blended,
a benediction and not a sacrilege.

In a secluded little spot in the southeast cornor of the federal build-
ing square is perched a small silk flag at half-mast. It floats from the
spot where President William IMcKinley stood more than a year ago
when with fitting words he laid the cornerstone of that immense structure.
It is a lonely little spot and entirely hidden from view of the street by
the high board fence which incloses the grounds. The only thing
that marks it is the little block of masonry upon which the dead Pres-
ident stood when he made his brief address. Yet this event remained
fast in the memories of a little group of workmen who listened with
intense interest to his sincere words at that time and marveled that such
a man should not be the choice of the whole people.

Early in the morning from the windows of adjoining buildings
these same men could be seen trailing to this memorable spot to plant
their last emblem of true love to the memory of their beloved Presi-
dent. Later in the afternoon, when Chicago was as silent as a new
village and the remains of William McKinley were being borne to their
last earthly resting place in Canton, they knelt around the little flag
in silent prayer and for minutes not a word was spoken aloud by any
of them. Then they arose and left the yard in different directions.

An incident of the five minutes of silence was the cessation of all
business by the Postal and Western Union Telegraph companies dur-
ing that time. At 2 :30 o'clock, as the last march to the grave was
started at Canton, word was sent to the central offices of the com-
panies in Chicago and to all branch offices, and the great systems
became silent. No message was sent or received for five minutes, and
the throbbing wires were as dumb as if the motive power had been
destroyed. Operators who a few minutes before were working the
telegraph keys to send messages of great or minor importance to all
parts of the country sat motionless in their chairs. It was the first
time in the history of telegraphy that business had been stopped so

Our Martyred President

generally and so suddenly. When the hands of the clock pointed to
2 :35 the operators bent over their instruments again and the busy click-
ing of keys was resumed.

In front of the new postoffice building on the Dearborn street side
sat a woman garbed in deep mourning. Her little son stood beside her.
During the entire parade she did not raise her eyes to watch the march-
ers. She sobbed as though her heart would break. The marchers had
no charms for her, and her grief was shared by those who surrounded
her. When the parade was done she walked away, leading her boy by
the hand, never uttering a word. As she went the big policeman who
had made a place for her remarked : "That woman must have known
some great sorrow. Her grief was pitiful."

Acting under the general order issued by President Cassatt of the
Pennsylvania railroad, Conductor M. O. Ginty of the New York and
Chicago express brought his train to a standstill at 2 :30 o'clock. As
it happened the train was four hours late, and at that time was about
to cross the Ohio line into Indiana. Upon Ohio soil, however, and on
the edge of a great cornfield far from any station, the passengers gath-
ered to do reverence to the memory of President McKinley. Rev.
Mr. Bell, of Dayton, O., was present and conducted a short but im-
pressive religious service. There were about 100 people in the au-
dience, representing many difterent states. Some of the women wept
at the eloquent words of the impromptu prayer, and the men, includ-
ing the train crew from engineer to flagman, stood with uncovered
heads. The sky was clear from horizon to horizon and the wind
rustling in the drying corn stalks was the only accompaniment to the
speaker's words.

Labor paid its last tribute to the late President in the parade. Mr.
McKinley had been an honorary member of Bricklayers and Stone Ma-
son's Union, No. 21, of Chicago. Nearly the full membership of the
organization turned out to honor his memory. Following the banners
of the organization in carriages came the union bricklayers, each with
a black and purple rosette on his left shoulder and a red carnation in
his buttonhole. Headed by President Gubbins of their national union,
they marched almost the entire line with bowed heads.

The crowds waiting for the parade at the corner of Michigan ave-
nue and Jackson boulevard saw all the representatives of the foreign
countries stationed in Chicago, as they were conspicuous by their uni-
forms and gold braid. These were heavily draped in crepe. Perhaps
the foreign representative most admired was Dr. W. Wever, the Ger-
man consul. Dr. Wever was dressed in the full uniform of the Ger-
man Hussars. As the Deutscher Kriegerverin and the other German

go Life of William McKinley

societies came along the consul took up a position where he could see
the faces of each one of the old veterans. The doctor stood at atten-
tion while all passed, and was sahited by each of the former residents
of the Vaterland. His erect military figure and the uniform made famous
by the grandfather of the present emperor of Germany was recognized
by the old German soldiers long before they reached the boulevard.

As the strains of Chopin's funeral march pealed forth from the great
pipe organ in the Great Northern hotel at 2 130 o'clock every guest in
the crowded lobby with uncovered head bowed reverently to do honor
to the dead. With the opening notes of the march every Hght in the
big hotel ceased to shine, and the dismal surroundings made the music
all the more impressive. All business was suspended during the play-
ing of the dirge, the doors being closed for the first time since the hotel
was opened, and not one of the hundreds of guests moved till the organ
was stilled.

As the G. A. R. section of the parade was turning the corner of
Washington and LaSalle streets two gray-haired old veterans dropped
out of line. One w^as more feeble than the other, and both painfully
cognizant their marching days were over.

"John, I can't go any farther."

"All right, Wilham, let's sit right down here on the curbstone.
Fixed comfortable? There goes a fellow used to be major of an In-
diana regiment. He was brigaded with us. Boys don't walk as spry
as they used to. Lincoln, Garfield, and now McKinley. Pretty hard,
ain't it, John ? Guess we've seen, and the country, too, the last of our
soldier Presidents. Yet, Roosevelt's all right. I know he's a soldier
President, but you know what I mean. He wasn't with Grant or
Tap" Thomas, 'Old Man' Sherman or 'Black Jack' Logan. That's
what I mean by soldiers. Yet, sir, Pm afraid McKinley's the last of our
kind. Let's go home, William. I can't stand any more of this."

A tear stole out of the corner of the speaker's eye and trickled down
his cheek, but it ran its course, no move was made to check it. And there
were tears in other folks' eyes.

A man with a package of crepe badges for sale was shouting his
wares loudly in the streets around Haymarket Square while the West
Side division was being formed when he was summoned by one who
stood looking on.

"How many badges have you ?" the vender was asked.

The badges were counted out. The man then said: "I w^ill buy
them all. Here is your money." And then he added: "Now give
them away with less noise than you have been making. This is not
the time and place for such aggressive business methods."

CHARLES EMERY SMITH
Postmaster General

Our Martyred President 8i

As the empty carriage of the Degeia Greek society, bearing only
a hfe size portrait of President McKinley, passed around the corner
of Randolph street and Fifth avenue the procession for some reason
halted for a moment. The crowds pressed around the vehicle, eager
to get near, as they had mistaken it for the one in which the Presi-
dent rode on his visits to Chicago.

The marshals and their aids were trying to clear the way, when a
Uttle girl, not more than 6 years old, darted out from the front wall
of the crowd and ran toward the carriage. Half a dozen throats
shouted a warning to her as she dodged near the horses' heels, but she
paid no heed.

Reaching, the carriage in safety the little one paused a moment and
then tenderly tossed a handful of purple asters into the vehicle. She
threw a kiss after the flowers and then started to run back to the side-
walk. A strong man picked her up and bore her to the mother, who
had just missed her child.

"I gave my flowers to the President, mamma," said the little girl
as she was set down at her mother's feet.

"She did, indeed, ma'am," said the man who had carried the child
back, as he motioned to a group of men who had seen the incident,
smiling approval as they stood with their hats in their hands." — Chicago
Record-Herald.

MEETING AT THE AUDITORIUM, CHICAGO — RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED.

At a meeting held at the Auditorium under the auspices of the Mar-
quette Club on the evening of October 19, 1901, at which all the members
of the club were present, together with the invited guests, the speakers,
also the consuls of all the foreign powers represented in Chicago, the fol-
lowing resolutions were adopted :

"The Marquette club stands for government — of the people, by the
people, for the people. It stands for laws drastic enough to not only
punish those who would destroy the government, but to preserve invio-
late the persons of those duly chosen to administer it. It stands for the
orderly execution of the law, even though the delays incident thereto
shield for a time an assassin and his coadjutors, who, denying the sanc-
tion of the law, yet on occasion clamor for its protection.

"In common with Christendom, it mourns the tragic death of the
best-loved man in all America.

"We, its members, have met to express our sentiments concerning
the event, yet find them too bewildered and confused for adequate expres-
sion. For the pathetic figure of that adored and adoring wife, our own

82 Life of William McKinley

grief m the loss of a friend and fellow member of the club, even our sor-
row in the loss to the republic, are mingled with a wondering horror of
the crime itself. That so beautiful and useful a life could be snuffed out
to feed the monstrous vanity of a mortal idiot, \A-ho, to hear his sibilant
name hissed for a moment by the public tongue, clasped the hand held
out to him in friendship, and smote and smote again.

''But our noble President neither lived nor died in vain. For be it,

"Resolved, That great as was the office of President wdiich William
McKinley filled, most greatly did he fill it, so that out of evil days, fraught
with peril to the republic, his wisdom brought us to a happy issue, ex-
alting our nation among the nations of the earth, making our people
known and honored everywhere for their strength, their justice, their
moderation, and their humanity.

'That fierce as was the light which beat upon the eminence he occu-
pied, it did not shroud him in the mystery of a burning bush, but served
only to illumine and make plain the character of the man, so that we
apprehended and knew how all the qualities which made him what he
was had their mainspring in simple goodness and faith in God.

'That if it is destiny that so dear a martyrdom must needs be to
startle the American people into a sense of the danger which menace their
government, then do we echo the dying words of the President, 'God's
will be done,' realizing, as never before, that as there is no room for im-
perialism on American soil, neither is there room for anarchy; realizing,
also, as never before, that human life is only sacred so long as it is human,
and that it is not too sacred to make anarchy punishable with death.

"That we pledge ourselves to this new work of extirpating anarchy
in the United States, whether it be armed with the assassin's pistol or
the liar's pen. 'God's will be done.' "

GEORGE E. ADAMS' ADDRESS.

In his address George E. Adams said :

"No other American President since our government began was
ever so popular during his term of office as President McKinley was the
day he was assassinated. True, he was often vilified in cartoons, which
their authors will be glad to have forgotten. So were Washington and
Lincoln vilified. The abuse heaped upon Washington during his sec-
ond term had at least this show of excuse. He was believed to be cold in
manner, aristocratic in feeling, and inclined to distrust the public virtue
and the political intelligence of the common people. The vilification
of Lincoln rose out of the passions of a great civil war. The assaults
upon McKinley by pen and pencil cannot be explained except by a craze

Our Martyred President 83

of sensationalism. They did not impair or obscure the respect and
esteem in which he had come to be held by all parties in all sections of
the country.

"McKinley's popularity was gained gradually. It grew stronger
steadily, from first to last. The secret of it was sympathy and trust.
The people of this country, as they came to know him, saw in him an
embodiment of the best and highest forces of American life. Americans
were glad to think of him as a typical American. Then they came to
see that this man, admirable in all the relations of private life, was also a
cheerful and diligent servant of the people. His highest ambition was
to ascertain, express and obey public opinion. Long before his first
Presidential term w^as ended the people came to trust McKinley, because
they knew that he, like Lincoln, had implicit confidence in the sober sec-
ond thought of the iVmerican people.

"When we heard of his assassination our first feeling was amazement.
What motive could any one have to raise his hand against him ? Our
wonder did not lessen when we heard that he had been shot simply
because he was the President, the chief representative of government in
the United States. What can we do to prevent the recurrence of such a
crime, a crime as stupid as it was atrocious ? W^e can make new criminal
statutes to stay the hand of the assassin. Can we not reach those
who inspire assassination ? We believe in the largest liberty of speech.
Those who think present institutions are defective are in duty bound to
say so. If they have a better system of government to propose it is their
right and their duty to ad\'Ocate it. But it is hard to understand how
it can be a legitimate exercise of free speech to advocate the destruction
of civil order on the plea that some new^ and better order of things, as
yet undefined, may in time arise out of the ruins. At all events, those
who write or speak must be held responsible for the probable effect of
what they say. If they knowingly incite to murder their crime is no
less, because they deprecate murder in the same breath."

ADDRESS OF DR. F. W. GUNSAULUS.

Dr. Frank W. Gunsaulus said in part :

''The three great graves which have received the dust of our
martyred Presidents have been three points toward which, in each in-
stance, God has led his Moses, and on the mountain top, lit by a moment
of divine success, Moses has been seen looking into 'the promised land.
How little have we thought that our Moses was to die there and enter his
grave before his nation reached his Canaan.

Each of these men left a grave which is such an altar place, the sacri-
fice was so made, and God so guides history, that the nation is inspired

Life of William McKinley

to march unfalteringly to the better clay. Slavery assassinated Abra-
ham Lincoln. And never until that moment was there a Canaan before
the American people so rich and secure that the nation was sure to go
forward, leaving the precious dust of its leader behind, and walking in
his spirit forevermore. The spoils system murdered Garfield. And
never until it had shown its base spirit, kindling a brain into madness,
was our country certain that her feet pointed Canaanward.

"And now comes anarchy, its Satanic bomb hissing already W'ith ruin
for the palaces of government and the temples of religion, its loathsome
face sneering at virtue, its leprous hand grasping the instrument of mur-
der, and this infernal fiend of the pit has slain our beloved and stainless
knight. From these graves we go forth, knowing that in death alone
these men have given the fatal thrust to the hellish powers which assassi-
nated them. More than armies, more than emancipation proclamations,
more than the statutes of congress, has the spirit of liberty which flowed
out of Lincoln's wound slain slavery. More than resolutions of con-
ventions, more than party promises or official orders, the awful cost and
sacrifice of Garfield and the spirit flowing from his wounds have fatally
struck the spoils system. More than jails or scaffolds, more than na-
tional armaments or stringent legislation, the gentle, pure, just and loving
spirit of William McKinley flowing from his wounds will at last, under
God's helping hand, annihilate anarchy. Civilization costs, but it is
worth all it costs. These three graves have been dug in the heart of the
American people, but they alone will keep the heart of the nation strong
and pure.

GREAT MANj VALIANT SOLDIER,

'■'Our late President was arranged for in the long development of his
physical, mental and spiritual characteristics through heredity and by
divine providence, and God's foresight was so spacious that nothing could
have come of it all save a great man. We who have known the father-
hood and motherhood, the environment and atmosphere which were his
could not think that Providence intended him to be other than strong,
full orbed, well poised, harmonious, and a valiant soldier whose qualities
shall be none the less illustrious a century hence than they were on that
day when he lay dead on his shield. His career has been the career of a
truly great man. William McKinley's greatness has not a solitary ele-
ment of the theatrical or romantic in its composition or influence. His
was the genius which is so full-orbed and harmonious that it is most
likely to require years that its completeness and serviceableness shall be
rightly estimated.

Our Martyred President 85

"Washington was no brilliant genius, and he beneficently inaugurated
the movement of American republicanism. A Napoleon at the begin-
ning of our governmental experiment would have Napoleonized our
youth. Equally unfortunate would we have been had our experiment
been fathered by a political philosopher of extraordinary visions.

"Lincoln's greatness was republican greatness. His arm was strong
when public sentiment lifted it, and he was able to incarnate the intellect
and conscience of the republic. McKinley's greatness was of this type.
He did listen with an ear close to the ground for the tread of the
millions, and after a moment which assured him of the righteousness
and wisdom of public sentiment, he was erect and leading them Zion-
ward. His imperialism was that of absolute loyalty to the people's will
after the people's will had been educated by a knowledge of the facts in
the case. The quality of the man's nature, his great public services, his
practical faith in the institutions and processes of republican government
make his grave a rallying point for all those elements of order and
progress which will at last achieve for earth, in many spirited reality, the
City of God."

CHAPTER V.
LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY

Early Manhood— War Record — Lawyer and Politician.

William McKinley was born at Niles, Trumbull county, Ohio, on
January 29, 1843, being now 58 years old. He was the son of William
McKinley, Sr., and Nancy Campbell Allison, and sprang from a hnc
that had figured in many of the early struggles and hardships of the
repubhc.

McKinley's boyhood Hfe really began at Poland, a neat little village,
about eight miles south of Youngstown. Main street is its principal
thoroughfare, which is well shaded with handsome trees. It is crossed
by a beautiful and picturesque stream, upon whose banks the village
grist mill is located. Should we follow Main street from the Methodist
church, up hill and down hill to its terminus, a good-sized common
and a Presbyterian church, we would find all that tends to make up a
small village.

Here we come in contact with all classes, rich and poor alike. The
various stores, the postoffice, in which McKinley served as a clerk dur-
ing vacation, and the old Sparrow tavern, which is now falling into
decay, all are found on Main street.

McKinley was but a child when his parents moved from Niles and
made a home in this little village in Mahoning county. His surround-
ings and society were partly agricultural and partly mining, for Poland
stands well by both these industries. It is the center of a rich farming
country, and its appearance partakes more of this characteristic than of
coal and mining. It is the most southern township of the original
Western Reserve. One of the original land company from Connecticut
settled at this point.

In this old Ohio village he was brought up, attending the public
school and subsequently the academy, which was an excellent institution
for those times. He left the academy when about seventeen, and
entered Allegheny College. Here he remained but a short time, return-
ing to Poland in consequence of illness. Recovering, he did not again
return to Allegheny, but taught a country school. At this period in
his life he enlisted.

Our Martyred President 87

Life at Poland until the war broke out was far from excitino-.
Youths like McKinley were obliged to study hard and not infrequently
do odd jobs to help earn money for books and tuition. As they ad-
vanced into professions it was often necessary to teach school, clerk
in a store, work on a farm, or take up some other occupation during
vacation. The McKinley family never hesitated to do this, and as a
result, all were ecjuipped with good educations. Two of the daughters
became excellent teachers, while McKinley himself, as before stated,
taught one term of winter school in what was then called the Kerr
district. This old schoolhouse still stands. It is about two and one-
half miles by road southwest of Poland, but young McKinley usually
strode manfully "across lots" to shorten the distance. Many who live
m Poland still remember seeing the young schoolmaster climbing
fences and making his way over the rolling surface of the country to
and from his duties. He was thus able to assist in defraying the
expenses of his tuition and that of other members of the family at the
academy.

This sort of life, as all know, sharpens the intellect, and broadens
the mind, and has a tendency to shorten the period between boyhood
and young manhood. McKinley was a real boy, full of fun, loving-
athletic sports, fond of horses, hunting and fishing, and all outdoor
exercises, and yet at sixteen we find him taking upon himself a serious
view of life.

In times of war, young men are filled with a spirit of patriotism,
and will leave father, mother, home — yes, all, and follow the "fife
and drum," inspired with love of freedom for our beloved country.
Such an one was William McKinley.

The little town of Poland was not to be outstripped in sending men
and boys to help the cause of "freedom."

In the old inn a generation ago, could be heard the mutterings and
murmurings of the mustering hosts. Here young men and boys stood
ready and eager to "shoulder arms" and march forth as quickly as the
government would take them. Poland prides herself to this day that
she never stood the draft. As th.e murmurings of war were floating
over the country, this little village was not asleep. One day, as they,
were gathered in the old tavern, the speaker pointed to the stars and
stripes, and exclaimed with much feeling: "Our country's flag has
been shot at. It has been trailed in the dust by those who
should defend it, dishonored by those who should have cherished and
loved it. And for what? That this free government may keep a
race in the bondage of slavery. Who will be the first to defend it?"
The hush which fell upon them was overpowering. Did it last long?

88 Life of William McKinley

Behold them now as they step forth one by one, among them a slight
boyish tigure, with gray eyes tihed with the fire of patriotism. Who
was this youtli ? Wihiam McKinley, scarcely eighteen years old.

Let us now see the religious side of his life. The church records
show that in 1858, when he was hardly sixteen, young McKinley
united with the Methodist Episcopal church of Poland. He had a
deep rehgious nature and was ever alive to the c[uestions asked in the
Bible class. The pastor, Rev. W. Day, D. D., was a man of great
influence and subsequently became eminent in his profession.

Young McKinley's record in the church was that of an earnest,
persevering Christian, who discharged all duties faithfully. He studied
the Bible with as much zeal and energy as he did law, and later on the
great cjuestions of state, leaving no stone unturned so as to reach the
bottom of the subject. Thus, in his youth, this American statesman,
the beloved and martyred President, must have worked very hard.
A close student, he was always up to the standard in the academy. The
midnight oil was burned by him in a course of law reading.

Thus, as leader of the village debating society, assisting the post-
master, teaching school, doing odd jobs, a constant attendant at church,
asking and answering questions in the Bible class ; all summed up, these
were indeed busy days for William. His constitution was good, his
disposition cheerful, and with a hopeful heart, he was enabled to go
through all this.

When the guns of Sumter sounded the call to arms, he dropped his
books, shouldered a musket and marched off into Virginia with the
Twenty-third Ohio. Col. Rutherford B. Hayes was the commander.
A few incidents tell better the kind of soldier he was than would an
extended account of his service. When the battle of Antietam oc-
curred he was a sergeant in the commissary department. That battle
began at daylight. Before daylight men were in the ranks and pre-
paring for it. Without breakfast, without coffee, they went into the
fight, and it continued until after the sun had set. Early in the after-
noon, naturally enough, with the exertion recjuired of the men. they
were famished and thirsty, and to some extent broken in s]^irit. The
commissary department of that brigade was under Sergeant McKin-
ley's administration and personal supervision. From his hands every
man in the regiment was served at the front with hot coffee and warm
meals, a thing that had never occurred under similar circumstances
in any other army in the world. He passed under fire and delivered,
with his own hands, these things so essential for the men for whom he
was laboring.

Our Martyred President 89

Governor R. B. Hayes, in writing reminiscences of Major McKin-
ley, said of this incident :

"Coming to Ohio and recovering from wourids, I called upon Gov-
ernor Tod and told him this incident. With the emphasis that dis-
tinguished that great war governor, he said: 'Let McKinley be pro-
moted from sergeant to lieutenant,' and that I might not forget, he
requested me to put it upon the roster of the regiment, which I did,
and IVIcKinley was promoted. As was the case, perhaps, with very
many soldiers, I did not keep a diary regularly from day to day, but
I kept notes of what was transpiring. When I knew that I was to
come here, it occurred to me to open the old note-book of that period
and see what it contained, and I found this entry :

" 'Saturday, 13th December, 1862. — Our new Second Lieutenant,
McKinley, returned today — an exceedingly bright, intelligent and gen-
tlemanly young officer. He promises to be one of the best.'

"He has kept the promise in every sense of the word."

Another incident, and one wdiich closed his active career as a sol-
dier, occurred at the battle of Cedar Creek. It showed that, young
though he was, no personal consideration deterred him from doing his
duty. His commander had but to give him orders, and with all the
dasli of a veteran w^arrior, he rode through a hail of shot and shell to
deliver them. General Russell Hastmgs, then a lieutenant in McKin-
ley's regiment, and his warm friend, afterwards told the story of that
gallant deed. It appears that General Crook's corps, some 6,000 strong,
found itself opposed to the whole of General Early's army. Some
sharp fighting ensued. General R. B. Hayes, who was in command
of his brigade, seeing that he could accomplish nothing without rein-
forcements, fell back towards Winchester. General Hastings said of
the event :

"Just at that moment it was discovered that one of the regiments
was still in an orchard where it had been posted at the beginning of
the battle. General Hayes, turning to Lieutenant McKinley, directed
him to go forward and bring away that regiment, if it had not already
fallen. McKinley turned his horse and, keenly spurring it, pushed it at
a fierce gallop obliquely toward the advancing enemy.

"None of us expected to see him again, as we watched him push his
horse through the open fields, over fences, through ditches, while a
well-directed fire from the enemy w^as poured upon him, with shells
exploding around, about, and over him.

"'Once he was completely enveloped in the smoke of an exploding
shell and we thought he had gone down. But no, he was saved for

90 Life of William McKinley

better work for his country in his future years. Out of this smoke
emerged his wiry httle brown horse, with McKinley still firmly seated
and as erect as a hussar,

"McKinley gave the Colonel the order from Hayes to fall back,
saying, in addition, 'He supposed you would have gone to the rear
without orders.' The colonel's reply was, T was about concluding I
would retire without waiting any longer for orders. I am now ready
to go wherever you shall lead, but, lieutenant, I "pintedly"
believe I ought to give those fellows a volley or two before I go.' Mc-
Kinley's reply was, 'Then up and at them as quickly as possible,' and
as the regiment arose to its feet the enemy came on into full view.
Colonel Brown's boys gave the enemy a crushing volley, following it
up with a rattling fire, and then slowly retreated toward some woods
directly in their rear. At this time the enemy halted all along Brown's
immediate front and for some distance to his right and left, no doubt
feeling he was touching a secondary line, which should be approached
with all due caution. During this hesitancy of the enemy, McKinley
led the regiment through these woods on toward Winchester.

"As Hayes and Crook saw this regiment safely off, they turned,
and, following the column, with it moved slowly to the rear, down the
Winchester pike. At a point near Winchester, McKinley brought the
regiment to the column and to its place in the brigade. McKinley
greeted us all with a happy, contented smile — no effusion, no gushing
palaver of words, though all of us felt and knew one of the most gallant
acts of the war had been performed.

"As McKinley drew up by the side of Hayes to make his verbal
report, I heard Hayes say to him, T never expected to see you in life
again.' "

General Sheridan also paid tribute to McKinley's zeal, when he
galloped down the line from Winchester, shouting, "Face the other
way, boys, we're going back !" On that famous ride he met Lieutenant
McKinley, and that young ofiicer carried the news through General
Hayes' brigade, so that when the advance was ordered the brigade Avas
in place, and another Union victory was achieved.

Lieutenant McKinley was made captain on July 25, 1864, aild was
brevetted major by President Lincoln for gallant conduct on the fields
of Opequan, Fisher's Hill and Cedar Creek. He was with the old
Twenty-third in all its fights and was mustered out with the regiment
in July, 1 86 5.

McKinley's military life and advancement, as indicated by the

Our Martyred President 91

official records, was most commendable. He enlisted as a private in
Company E of the Twenty-third O. V. I., June 11, 1861 ; was pro-
moted to commissary sergeant, April 15, 1862; was promoted to sec-
ond lieutenant of Company D, September 23, 1862; was promoted to
captain of Company G, July 25, 1864; was detailed as acting assistant
adjutant general of the First division, First army corps, on the staff of
General Carroll: was brevetted major, March 13, 1865, and was mus-
tered out of service July 26, 1865.

William Henry Smith says of McKinley: "His success on merit
during the war of the rebellion has had its counterpart in civil life in
the public service. When someone remarked in the presence of General
Hayes that Major McKinley possessed many brilliant cjualities as a
public man; that he was skillful in debate and tactful as a leader, but
was lacking in business ability, he received this reply: 'A man who
before he had attained the age of twenty-one. kept up the supplies for
the army of General Crook in active service in the field, is not lacking
in Imsiness ability. Fie has capacity equal to any enterprise, for any
position in life, even the highest.

BECOMES A LAWYER AND POLITICIAN.

After his military career, McKinley returned to his home in Ohio,
where he entered upon the study of law with Judge Charles E. Gidden,
at Poland, afterward taking a course of study at the Albany, New York,
Law School, and was admitted to the bar in 1867. McKinley's early
life was favored, in that he had not only true and noble parents to
guide him, but in his civil career, had such a man as Judge Gidden,
who is spoken of as being of high character, eloquent and forceful ad-
dress, and a voice which, when once heard, was never forgotten.

He commenced his law practice in Canton, Ohio, to which place
he removed, and was elected district attorney of Stark county, in which
capacity he served ten years, and was re-nominated, but not elected,
as the enemy, as ever, was on the alert, and caused his defeat. But
this did not daunt him, and as the town of Canton grew in importance,
his law practice increased.

These events would naturally lead him into politics, and we find him
now launching out on that great sea, whose waves carried him to the
highest and most honored position an American citizen can attain.

January 25th, 1871, Major McKinley was married to Miss Ida
Saxton, daughter of J. A. Saxton, a banker, of Canton. That event
had, in after years, no doubt, much to do with the strong hold on the
affections of the people, acquired by Major McKinley. His wife became

92 Life of William McKinley

an invalid early in their married life. The two little girls born to them
died in childhood, and Major McKinley devoted all the time he could
spare from public duties to comforting his helpmate. No more beautiful
example of marital devotion was ever seen than that of William Mc-
Kinley to the gentle invalid, who survives him, and is enshrined with
him in the hearts of his countrymen.

Major McKinley was first elected to Congress in 1876. He was
nominated by the republicans, who had little hope of electing him. His
opponent was Judge L. D. Woodsworth, the then incumbent of the
office, and a democratic wheelhorse. There was a democratic majority
in the district, the old eighteenth of 1800. Few expected this could
be overcome, but Major McKinley overcame it, having a clean majority
of 1,300 votes.

It was particularly felicitous for Major McKinley that his first four
years in congress were coincident with the administration of President
Hayes. The youngest member of congress, he had the intimate and
near friendship of the ruler of the nation. Of course, no direct political
advancement could, or did, grow out of this friendship.

He made no plunge into legislative work during his first session.
The records do not contain any speech of his, nor does his name appeai;
on any important committee. He studied and learned, and after his
first speech in 1878, on the Wood tariff bill, he was recognized as a
man of power. A place on the ways and means committee was given
him, and for thirteen years he remained there. It is impossible to
summarize his congressional career in the limited space this volume
affords, but his tariff record, which was the main work of his legis-
lative career, is treated in another chapter. Suffice it to say, that up
to the time of his unseating by the democrats in the forty-eighth con-
gress, he was attending carefully and energetically to all his duties,
and had come to be regarded as one of the ablest members of the
house. So satisfied with his services were the people of his district
that though the democrats sought to defeat him by gerrymandering his
district, he won in every case until 1890.

The unseating of McKinley by the democratic majority in the forty-
eighth congress in no wise affected his popularity at home. He had
been a modest and faithful servant of the people. In every undertaking
he had stood four-square to all the winds which blew, and his friends
and neighbors in his native state never intended to permit such a
devoted public servant to go into retirement. The experiment of put-
ting an untried democrat in the place so long occupied 1)y Major Mc-
Kinley had not been a conspicuous success, and tliere were many people
who, despite their party affiliations, disliked the manner in which the

Our Martyred President 93

major liad been deprived of his seat. It was generally admitted that he
knew more about the real needs of his constituency which might be reme-
died by legislation, than any other man. That he was honest, and
untiring in his efforts to do his full duty towards his people, all knew.

The democrats, however, did not propose to allow him to go back
to congress, if they could help it. No doubt was entertained as to his
becoming a candidate in 1884, and the democrats tried to head him off
by their favorite scheme of gerrymandering the district again. The
effort was unsuccessful. A hot canvass followed Major McKinley's
nomination, and when the votes were counted, it was found that he
had secured a majority of 1,500, despite the best efforts of the
opposition.

When the major appeared in Washington in March, 1885, he found
many friends to welcome him back. There was plenty of work for
him to do, and he applied himself to it diligently. The index to the
Congressional Record for that period contains nearly a page of memo-
randa showing the part he took in the legislation of the country.

He was never a flambuoyant talker, and spoke in the house only when
he had something weighty to say. This was recognized long before
his leadership was established, and he had attentive listeners whenever
he arose to speak. During this session he delivered an address in
memory of the murdered President Garfield, that was eloquent in its
simplicity, and worthy of commendation, because of the high range of
its thought, and the lessons of patriotism and duty which it inculcated.

Another speech uttered at that session, is memorable because it
shows his long and earnest sympathy with the laboring man. Major
McKinley was brought up amidst the great, throbbing iron and steel
industries of the country. He had seen the struggle of the workingmen
to secure proper recognition of their rights, and he felt for them the
keenest sympathy. This was manifested in various ways, and was
specially emphasized in the debate on the bill submitted to the house
by the committee on labor, providing for "the speedy settlement of
controversies and differences between common carriers engaged in inter-
state and territorial transportation of property or passengers, and their
employees."

There is, perhaps, more of sarcasm in his remarks than he usually
permitted, but it was an open fight, and he was doubtless prepared to
meet the issue to the utmost end, and to permit no unanswered attacks
on the policy of his party and the principles he professed to believe in.
Congressman Breckinridge, of Kentucky, had moved an amendment to
the bill, which precluded board of arbitration from administering oaths
subpcenaing witnesses, compelling attendance, etc., and in defending

94 Life of William McKinley

the amendment, he had declared that the only remedy possible, by legis-
lation, for the evils complained of, was equal laws. "Let us distribute
the burdens of our civilization," he said, 'equally upon labor and capital.
That is all we can do. Make capital pay its share of the burdens; take
from labor the burdens which have been unequally imposed upon it.
Say by equal laws there shall be a great distribution of the burdens;
that the burden shall no longer gall this burden-bearing back, and that
labor shall have a just and equal consideration under our laws with
capital. I say to my democratic friends, this bill is not in the direction
they want us to go. This is not the remedy for the burdens upon
oppressed labor. But there is a remedy : Let us reduce taxation. Let
us go back to the old democratic doctrine of free and equal rights
to all."

Upon obtaining the floor. Major McKinley said:

"Mr. Chairman : I rise to oppose the amendment of the gentleman
from Kentucky. The whole purpose of the amendment is to destroy
whatever of good results may be expected from the passage of this bill ;
and I can readily see why a gentleman who is opposed to this system
of settling differences between employer and employee should offer the
amendment which is here proposed. I am quite sure, Mr. Chairman,
that the fervent and eloquent words of my distinguished friend, will
be welcomed by the laboring men of the land as a sovereign cure for
their evils and their discontent. I feel very certain that the general
platitudes in which he has indulged, about the equality of all men in
this country, and the dignity of labor, and the general statement that
the way to help these workingmen is to reduce taxation, will be accepted
by them as a never-failing remedy. I am sure every laboring man in
this country will hail with acclamation, these soft words as a panacea
for all his troubles.

'T am opposed to the amendment, because I believe in the principle
and tendency of the bill. I would amend it in some particulars if I
could. The bill confers no rights or privileges touching arbitration
which are not now enjo3^ed by common carriers and those engaged in
their service. It leaves them where it finds them, with the right of
voluntary arbitration, to settle their difficulties through a peaceful and
orderly tribunal of their own selection. It only follows tlie principle
recognized in many states of the Union, notably in Ohio and Massachu-
setts, and gives national sanction and encouragement to a mode of
settlement of grievances between employer and employee, w^hich is
approved by the best judgment of the country, and the enlightened
sentiment of all civilized peoples.

"While the bill does not compel arbitration, its passage here will not

Our Martyred President 95

be without influence as a legislative suggestion in commending the prin-
ciple to both capital and labor as the best and most economic way of com-
posing differences and settling disagreement which experience has un-
formly shown, in the absence of an amicable adjustment, results in loss
to all classes of the community, and to none more than the workingmen
themselves.

"If by the passage of this simple measure arbitration as a system
shall be aided to the slightest extent, or advanced in private or public
favor, or if it shall serve to attract the thoughtful attention of the people
to the subject, much will have been accomplished for the good of our
communities, and for the welfare and prosperity of the people.

"I am in favor of this bill for what it is, and only for what it is.
It does not undertake to do impossible things, or cross the line of safety.
I will regret if it shall deceive anybody, and if it is the purpose of any-
body to make believe that its passage is a cure for the evils and dis-
content which pervade society, I must disclaim now any part or share
in such purpose or expectation, for it will not, and can not, and nobody
supposes it will. It simply provides that when the railroad companies
operating through tv/o or more states, or in the territories, shall agree
upon and consent to an arbitration, this bill will aid, encourage and
assist the parties concerned to get at the truth, to probe to the bottom,
ascertain the facts of the situation, by which the board will be enabled
to act intelligently and justly to all interests involved. This is the
whole of it in scope and extent, and cannot and will not deceive any one.

"It is said there is no way to enforce the judgment of the arbitration,
and, therefore, it is a nullity. I have the least concern on that score. I
have no fear that after the railroad corporation and its employees have
united in an arbitration, its judgment will be disobeyed or not acquiesced
m as final and conclusive. Neither will venture, in the absence of fraud,
to ignore the award of a tribunal of their own selection, in which both
have voluntarily confided for the settlement of their differences. We
need borrow no trouble on that account. Refusal to obey the judgment
, of the arl;itration would be the exception and not the rule, and an award
honestly reached will be sacredly observed. Nor am I troubled because
there i^ no compulsion to arbitrate in the first instance. Either party
provided for in the bill, believing it has a g^enuine grievance, and
inviting the other to arbitrate, will occupy a vantage ground which the
other can not long successfully defy. There is a sense of fair play
among the people which, when crystallized into public judgment, is as
potent, ay, more potent than statute or judicial decree. No railroad
corprration, no labor union, no body of laboring men could long hold
out against fair and e^juitable demand, backed by a willingness to

96 Life of William McKinley

submit the justice of that demand to a board of competent arbitrators. In
any view there is no harm in trying this experiment ; and in this effort,
small and inconsequential as it may seem to be, I am confident we are
moving- in the right direction and nothing but good can result."
In'closing his remarks. Major McKinley said :
"I believe, Mr. Chairman, in arbitration as a principle. I believe it
should prevail in the settlement of international differences. It repre-
sents a higher civilization than the arbitraments of war. I believe it is
in close accord with the best thought and sentiment of mankind. I be-
lieve it is the true way of settling differences between labor and capital.
I believe it will bring both to a better understanding, uniting them closer
in interest, and promoting better relations, avoiding force, avoiding un-
just exactions and oppression, avoiding the loss of earnings to labor,
avoiding disturbances to trade and transportation; and if this house
can contribute in the smallest measure, by legislative expression or
otherwise, to these ends, it will deserve and receive the gratitude of
all men who love peace, good order, justice and fair play."

This speech, taken in connection with Major McKinley' s subse-
quent acts as governor of Ohio, during the acute labor disturbances of
1894, show his love of justice, and his constant effort to achieve by
lawful and reasonable means, the greatest possible good to society.

His undeniable trust in the wisdom of the people was again ex-
hibited during this congress, when the bill concerning the presidential
succession was under discussion. Fault had been found with the exist-
ing law — that framed by the founders of the republic — as being inade-
quate, and a committee of the house had formulated a bill, making the
succession — in case of the death or disability of the president and vice-
president, run to the cabinet ministers. Major McKinley disagreed
with the provisions of the bill, and offered an amendment, in the nature
of a substitute, for the pending bill. In explaining the scope of his
amendment, he said :

"Mr. Speaker, my substitute preserves the existing law as it was
made in 1792, and leaves the presidential succession where we find it
in that law ; and the only new provision I propose is that we shall never
be without a president pro tempore of the senate, and never be without
a speaker of the house of representatives. And to this end my substitute
provides that the congress shall assemble at midday on the 4th day of
March succeeding the election of representatives in congress, for the
purpose of electing a speaker. And it further provides, that in the event
of the speakership, or the presidency pro tempore of the senate becom-
ing vacant during the recess, the president of the United States shall
forthwith assemble the house in which such vacancy exists, for the

ELIHU ROOT
Secretary of War

Our Martyred President 97

purpose of electing a presiding officer. It preserves intact the law as our
forefathers made it, and executes with certainty their purpose, and that
of the law itself. It avoids the dangerous step taken by the present
bill, which takes away from the people of the country, in whom all
power resides, the rigiit to fill a vacancy in the presidency in a certain
contingency, that contingency being the death or removal of both
president and vice-president of the United States. I would leave that
power with the people, where it properly belongs. I am opposed to any
step in the opposite direction. My substitute follows the pathway of
the founders of the government, which, in my judgment, is the path
of safety."

Major McKinley's substitute was defeated, but the bill passed. Was
it fate that he should be the first president v.diose successor should be
inducted into the high office under the provisions of that bill ?

In the fiftieth and fifty-first congresses. Major McKinley was^
chiefly engaged in the handling of tariff measures, which will be con-
sidered in another chapter. It was in 1890 that he was finally defeated
for congress. In the fifty-first congress he had succeeded in securing
the enactment of the protective tarift' bill that bore his name, and as a
result had been made the target for all sorts of vile abuse by opponents
throughout the country. The free traders of Ohio clamored for his
defeat, and to accomplish it another gerrymander was resorted to. Stark
county was put into a district with Wayne, Medina and Holmes counties,
and Ex-Lieutenant Governor Warwick, a popular democrat, was nomi-
nated against Major McKinley. One year before the counties compris-
ing the new district had given Campbell, the democratic candidate for
governor, 2,900 majority, but, despite this fact and the combination
against him of all the power democracy could bring to bear, he was de-
feated by only 363 votes. The largest vote ever cast in the district was
brought out, and the Major polled 2,500 more votes than had been
given Benjamin Harrison for president in 1888.

When in congress ]\Ir. McKinley served on the committee of the
revision of laws, the judiciary committee, the committee of expenditures
of the postoffice department and the committee on rules; and when
General Garfield was nominated for the presidency, McKinley was
assigned to the committee on wa^'s and means in his place, and he con-
tinued to serve on the last named committee until the end of his congres-
sional career.

CHAPTER VI.
His Last Term in Congress. Record on the Tariff.

Major McKinley rounded oat his congressional career in the 51st
congress with the passage of the protective tariff law known as the Mc-
Kinley bill. The remarkable wisdom displayed in handling that meas-
ure indicated, probably, that he had fulfilled his destiny as a legislative
factor, and thenceforth his vi^ork for the people was to be in executive
channels. No greater fame could have come to him than the shaping
of that law, which pledged his party to a principle, and which proved of
such benefit to the nation. In considering his final services in tlie
house, it may be well to take a backward glance at his record, especially
as related to the tariff question, and give an idea of the cause of the
power he wielded.

The tariff cjuestion was not a new one in the history of American
legislation when William McKinley took his place in the house of rep-
resentatives at Washington. It had been thrashed over by the colo-
nists, who objected to and sought to evade exactions of the mother
country long before the declaration of independence was written. How
to protect the people, to develop the country and to prevent suffering
among the producing classes, were questions that the colonists and
the continental congress struggled with, and that their successors in
administrative affairs found great difficulty in settling. Some of the
states, before the adoption of the constitution, passed laws for the
express purpose of protecting home industries against the better organ-
ized and cheaper manufacturers of Europe. Pennsylvania in the pre-
amble to her tariff law, said :

"Whereas, although the fabrics and manufactures of Europe and
other foreign parts imported into this country in times of peace, may be
afforded at cheaper rates than they can be made here, yet good policy,
and a regard for the well-being of divers useful and industrious citizens
who are employed in the making of like goods in this state, demand
of us that moderate duties be laid on certain fabrics and manufactures
imported, which do most interfere with, and which (if no relief be
given) will undermine and destroy the useful manufactures of the like
kind in this country."

At that early day it was clearly seen that industries could not be

Our Martyred President 99

built up in this country if they had to compete with foreign manufac-
tures on equal terms. But the protective idea, in its full efflorescence,
had not yet come into being. The school of political economists then
holding sway— Richards, Adam Smith, Say and others— favored free
trade. In theory that is as beautiful as socialism in its essence — and
as impractical. But the fact was not appreciated then, nor for years
afterward. When the constitution was adopted the subject of raising
revenue for the expenses of government was discussed and congress
was given power to "regulate commerce." What that meant was long
a subject of debate, and while the proponents of protection declared
it meant a tariff for the protection of American industries, the oppo-
nents were as sure as they could be of anything that it meant that
congress should only "regulate commerce," so far as to provide reve-
nues for the government. Though the question has been discussed ever
since, there are still those who hold to the belief that all protective laws
are unconstitutional, and do violence to the intent of the framers of
our organic law.

Major McKinley was one of those who held to the broader meaning
of the fathers of the republic. He followed Daniel Webster, who in a
speech in Albany. N. Y., in 1847, said:

"Now, in the early administration of the government, some trusts
and duties were conferred upon the general government, about which
there could not be much dispute. It belonged to the general govern-
ment to make war and peace, and to make treaties. There was no
room for dispute as to these powers; they were liable to no great di-
versity of opinion. But then comes the other power, which has been,
and is now, of the utmost importance — that of regulating commerce.
What does that import? On this part of the constitution there has
sprung up in our day a great diversity of opinion. But it is certain that
when the constitution had been framed, and the first congress assem-
bled to pass laws under it, there was no diversity of opinion on it, no
contradictory sentiments. The power of regulating commerce granted
to congress was most assuredly understood to embrace all forms of regu-
lation belonging to those terms under other governments — all th.e
meaning implied in the terms, in the same language, employed in all
laws, and in the intercourse of modern nations. And I consider it as
capable of mathematical demonstration — as capable of demonstration
as any problem in Euclid, that the power of discriminating in custom
house duties for the protection of American labor and industry, was
understood, not by some, but by all, by high and low, everywhere, as
included in the regulation of trade."

Rufus Choate and other eminent men held similar views, but con-

100 Life of William McKinley

gress thrashed the question over and over again, until the year 1893,
when, after the passage of the Wilson bill, which repealed the McKin-
ley act, the country came to the conclusion that the protective theory
was, if not absolutely right, at least productive of greater good to the
people than the free trade theory.

In the controversies leading up to this conclusion from 1878, Major
McKinley bore a conspicuous part. He did not gain a foremost place
as a matter of chance, nor because there were no leaders of consequence
on his side. When he made his first speech in congress on the subject
of tariff, he was in company with those veterans, Morrill, of Vermont,
and Judge William D. Kelley, of Pennsylvania. They w^re masters
of all the arguments to be used on the subject of protection of Ameri-
can industries, yet they listened to this youth from the west, and ad-
mired the logical manner in which he presented the subject, his won-
derful knowledge of the facts, and the splendid manner in which he
drove home his arguments. It was no fortuitous combination of cir-
cumstances which thus branded him as a leader among leaders. It
was hard, systematic work, such as he had all his life been accustomed
to do. When a young lawyer in Canton, it is said, an able and cunning
lawyer of an adjacent town, knowing that Major McKinley was a
protectionist, proposed to debate the question with him. The major
agreed, but the opponent was too strong for him. A bright intelligence,
sophistry, and long practice enabled the elder man to win a victory.
The incident galled Major McKinley. He recognized his unprepared-
ness for the contest, and said to a friend : "Hereafter no man shall
overcome me so; I know that I am right in this matter, and I know
that I can show that I am right by and by." From that time on
he studied assiduously. Books, and men, and conditions, were scru-
tinized, and everything in the way of knowledge they had to impart
was absorbed by the major. It is said that those who traveled with
him, or who met him away from home, were amazed at his persistent
inquiry respecting material things which might suggest a lesson in
American prosperity. The railways, their mileage, their traffic, their
dividends, their proposed extensions ; the mills, what they produced,
how many hands they employed, how the working people lived; what
comforts and luxuries they were able to enjoy; the distinctive trade of
any city in which he happened to stop; whether it was on the increase,
or was decreasing, and why. Of the agricultural interests of the coun-
try it was said he could tell the husbandmen more than they knew,
and yet he drew them out on all occasions. Add to these facts the
further statement that his 3^outh was spent within sound of the roar
of iron furnaces, and that the greatest industrial development the world

Our Martyred President loi

ever saw was going on during his congressional career, and it is easy
to see that no man could have been better equipped than he to lead hi^-
party in the matter of legislation, and ultimately to become, through
its agency, the chief executive of the nation. No man ever had a
stronger sense of duty, or a more steadfast adherence to principle than
Major McKinley, and when he stood up in the house, April 15, 1878,
to speak on the Wood tariff bill, he said :

"I am opposed to the pending bill from a high sense of duty — a
duty imposed upon me by the very strong convictions which I enter-
tain after an examination of its several features, and from the convic-
tion that should the proposed measure become a law, it will be nothing-
short of a public calamity."

He discussed the general features of the bill, and declared that if
enacted into law it would decrease the national revenues, lower wages
and impoverish the working classes. After he had, with masterly skill,
dissected the measure and shown its weaknesses, he concluded :

"Mr. Chairman, the proposed bill is a piece of patchwork, and
abounds in inconsistencies. It is an attempt to conciliate two schools
of political science and pleases neither. It has marched out into the
broad field of compromise and come back with a few supporters, it is
true, who are opposed to the original bill as reported. It is neither
free trade, tariff reform, nor protective tariff. It has none of the
virtues of either, but the glaring faults of all systems. It is an attempt
to change a law which does not improve the old one. It is an experi-
ment opposed by all experience. It introduces uncertainty into the
business of this country, when certainty is essential to its life. I can
not better characterize it than by cjuoting the language of the distin-
guished gentleman from New York (Mr. Wood) in speaking of a tariff*
bill pending in June, 1864, in this house. Speaking of that bill (and
his words seem prophetic as applied to his own), he said: 'The com-
mittee has given us a bill which I regard as an exceedingly crude and
improper measure ;' and that is what the country has already said of the
pending bill, and it is what I believe will be the verdict of this house
when a vote is reached.

*'What the country wants above all else at this critical period is rest
— rest from legislation, safety and security as to its basis of business,
certainty as to the resources of the government, immunity from legis-
lative tinkering. None of these are afforded by the present bill.

"Mr. Chairman, there never was a time in the history of this coun-
try, more inauspicious than the present for the dreamer and the theorist
to put into practical operation his impracticable theories of political
science. The country does not want them; the business men of the

102 Life of William McKinley

country do not want them. They want quiet to recuperate their wasted
forces, and I am sure I utter no sentiment new or original when I say
that if this house will promptly pass the appropriation bills and other
pressing legislation, and follow it with an immediate adjournment, the
people will applaud such a course as the work of statesmen and the
wisdom of men of affairs."

It was in this manner, calmly but forcibly, that he entered upon the
work in congress, with which his name was thenceforth to be stead-
fastly allied. Four years later, owing to the changed condition of
national affairs, he advocated a friendly revision of the tariff by a
commission appointed for that purpose. The commission was appointed
by President Arthur, June 7, 1882, and was composed as follows:
John L. Hayes, of Massachusetts, chairman; Henry W. Oliver, Penn-
sylvania; Austin M. Garland, Illinois; Jacob A. Ambler, Ohio; Robert
P. Porter, District of Columbia; John W. H. Underwood, Georgia;
Duncan F. Kenner, Louisiana; Alexander F. Boteler, West Virginia,
and William H. McMahon, New York. The result of the labors of the
commission was reported to congress in 1883, and Major McKinley
was one of the most active participants in the debate which resulted.
The bill became a law, but in 1884 the democrats took up the question
again. Congressman W. R'. Morrison, of Illinois, introduced a meas-
ure known as the Morrison horizontal bill. The democrats were dis-
satisfied with the republican measure, and declared that Judge Kelley,
of Pennsylvania, Major McKinley. and others did not have sufficient
ability to frame a tariff law, and had therefore turned the matter over to
a commission of experts. In the debate on the bill Major McKinley
met the objections which had been urged against the commission bill,
and displayed his remarkable familiarity with the subject by taking
up the various schedules and pointing out the errors of the ways and
means committee. In his speech he said :

'Tt is gratifying to know that at last the true sentiment of the demo-
cratic party of the country dominates the party in which it has so long
been in the majority, and no longer submits to the dictation of a factious
minority within its own ranks. It is gratifying because the people can
no longer be deceived as to the real purpose of the party, which is to
break down the protective tariff and collect duties hereafter upon a pure
revenue basis, closely approximating free trade. Patent platforms and
the individual utterances of democratic statesmen will no longer avail,
and false pretenses can no longer win.

"The bill reported from the committee on ways and means is a
proposition to reduce the duties upon all articles of imported merchan-
dise, except those embraced in two schedules, to-wit, spirits and silks,

Our Martyred President 103

twenty per cent. It is to be a horizontal reduction, not a well matured
and carefully considered revision. Its author makes no such claim for
it, but confesses in his recent speech, that while a revision and adjust-
ment are essential, they are believed to be unattainable at the present
session of congress,' "

In further discussing- the measure, Major McKinley said:

"What can be said of the capacity of the majority of the committee
on ways and means as evidenced by the bill before us? It is a confes-
sion upon its face of absolute incapacity to grapple with the great sub-
ject. The Morrison bill wall never be suspected of having passed the
scrutiny of intelligent experts like the tariff commission. This is a
revision by the cross-cut process. It gives no evidence of the expert's
skill. It is the invention of indolence — I will not say of ignorance, for
the gentlemen of the majority of the committee on ways and means are
competent to prepare a tariff bill. I repeat, it is not only the invention
of indolence, but it is the mechanism of a botch workman. A thousand
times better refer the question to an intelligent commission, which will
study the question in its relation to the revenues and industries of the
country, than to submit a bill like this.

"They have determined upon doing something, no matter how mis-
chievous, that looks to the reduction of import duties ; and doing it, too,
in spite of the fact that not a single request has come either from the
great producing or consuming classes of the United States for any
change in the direction proposed. With the power in their hands, they
have determined to put the knife in, no matter where it cuts, nor how
much blood it draws. It is the volunteer surgeon, unbidden, insisting
upon using the knife upon a body that is strong and healthy, needing
only rest and release from the quack whose skill is •limited to the hori-
zontal amputation, and whose science is barren of either knowledge or
discrimination. And then it is not to stop with one horizontal slash ;
it is to be followed by another, and still another, until there is nothing
left either of life or hope.

"It is \vell, if this bill is to go into force, that on yesterday the
other branch of congress, the senate, passed a bankruptcy bill. It is a
fitting corollary to the Morrison bill ; it is a proper and necessary com-
panion. The senate has done wisely in anticipation of our action here
in providing legal means for settling with creditors, for wiping out
balances, and rolling from the shoulders of our people the crushing
burdens which this bill will impose."

The next assault upon the tariff which Major McKinley met was
in 1 888, when Roger O. Mills, of Texas, presented what is knowai as
the Mills bill. This bill was fixed up by the majority of the ways and

I04 Life of William McKinley

means committee to suit themselves. It was completed and printed
without the knowledge of the minority, and without consideration or
discussion in the fuU committee. This naturally incensed Major McKin-
ley, who was a member of the committee. The minority made re-
peated efforts to obtain from the majority of the committee data from
'which the bill was constructed, but without avail. Major McKinley
•[prepared and presented to the house the views of the minority of the
committee on the Mills bill, and the document is said to be one of the
ablest ever prepared on the subject. The minority condemned the bill,
declaring it to be a radical reversal of the tariff policy of the coun-
try which for the most part had prevailed since the foundation of
the government, and under which the country had made industrial
and agricultural progress without a parallel in the world's history.
The schedules were analyzed and their inconsistency and unworthi-
ness, from a republican standpoint, referred to. In closing, the report
asserted that the minority regarded the bill not as a revenue reduction
measure, but as a direct attempt to fasten upon this country the British
policy of free foreign trade.

A few weeks after the presentation of this report. Major McKinley
delivered a speech in the house against the bill. It was a masterly
effort, prepared with all possible care, and it is declared to have been
one of the most convincing speeches on the subject ever uttered. There
was no argument which the democrats advanced to which he had not
a ready answer, and the clearness with which he presented his points,
and remarkable grasp of the numerous details which he possessed, as-
tounded even those who were familiar with his career, and knew tlie
care with which he examined every subject brought to his attention
while in the performance of his duty.

In the course of his address, he spoke as follows :

"From 1789 to 1888, a period of ninety-nine years, there have been
forty-seven years when a democratic revenue tariff policy has prevailed,
and fifty-two years under the protective policy, and it is a noteworthy
fact that the most progressive and prosperous periods of our history in
every department of human effort and material development, were
during the fifty-two years when the protective party was in control
and protective tariffs were maintained, and the most disastrous
years — years of want and wretchedness, ruin and retrogression, eventu-
ating in insufficient revenues and shattered credits, individual
and national — were during the free trade or revenue tariff eras
of our history. No man lives who passed through any of the lat-
ter periods but would dread their return, and would flee from them
as he would escape from fire and pestilence, and I believe the party

Our Martyred President 105

which promotes their return will merit and receive popular condem-
nation. What is the trouble with our present condition? No coun-
try can point to greater prosperity or more enduring evidences of
substantial progress among all the people. Too much money is being
collected, it is said. We say, stop it; not by indiscriminate legislation,
but by simple business methods. Do it on simple, practical lines, and
we will help you. Buy up the bonds, objectionable as it may be, and
pay the nation's debt, if you cannot reduce taxation. You could have
done this long ago. Nobody is chargeable for the failure but your own
administration.

"Who is objecting to our protective system? From what quarter
does the complaint come? Not from the enterprising American citi-
zen; not from the manufacturer; not from the laborer, whose wages
it improves; not from the consumer, for he is fully satisfied, because
under it he buys a cheaper and better product than he did under the
other system; not from the farmer, for he finds among the employees
of the protected industries his best and most reliable customers; not
from the merchant or the tradesman, for every hive of industry in-
creases the number of his customers and enlarges the volume of his
trade.

"This measure is not called for by the people; it is not an American
measure; it is inspired by importers and foreign producers, most of
them aliens, who want to diminish our trade and increase their own;
who want to decrease our prosperity and augment theirs, and who have
no interest in this country except what they can make out of it. To
this is added the influence of the professors in some of our institutions
of learning, who teach the science contained in books, and not that
of practical business. I would rather have my political economy
founded upon the every day experience of the puddler or the potter than
the learning of the professor; or the farmer and factory hand than the
college faculty. There is another class who want protective tariffs over-
thrown. They are the men of independent wealth, with settled and
steady incomes, who want everything cheap but currency; the value
of everything clipped but coin — cheap labor, but dear money. These
are the elements which are arrayed against us."

The Mills bill, though passed by the house, was defeated in the
senate, and no one man contributed more to that result than Major
McKinley. He had been for ten years at work almost incessantly upon
the subject of tariff. He had ransacked the pages of history, explored
native industries, quizzed all classes of people, and had learned all there
was to know. He was not an expert as to the iron industry alone. He
knew all about wool, about glassware, a1)Out lace, sugar, drugs, lum-
ber, wheat, coal, and the myriad commodities which are in daily use

io6 Life of William McKinley

by society. As a result of these studies and experiences, he had ah-eady
hoisted the banner of protection for protection's sake. Other leaders
of the party had wobbled somewhat in times past on the subject of
protecting home industries by l&vying a tariff. There had been talk of
a "tariff for revenue only" in the party, and "a revenue tariff with in-
cidental protection," but Major McKinley listened to no doctrine on
the tariff question which did not embody, without equivocation, the idea

of protection.

When congress assembled in 1889, Major McKinley, then chair-
man of the committee on ways and means, set about preparing a tariff
bill which had for its object the double purpose of reducing the then
surplus revenue, and of revising and harmonizing the several sched-
ules of the tariff law. The work was done completely and systematic-
ally. It caused no disturbance in business circles, because everybody
knew there would be no violence done to the existing law, and that
business would be in no wise unsettled. To get at facts, however,
everybody interested, high and low, was heard by the committee, and no
one worked as hard during all this period as Major McKinley. The
bill was drawn, and said to be the most complete, symmetrical and
patriotic law ever framed. It is not necessary here to enter into details
concerning it. Sufhce it to say that it stimulated manufactures in a
most remarkable degree, and brought amazing prosperity to the coun-
try. Before these results were brought about, however, another con-
gressional election had been held, and a democratic house had been
chosen. That body, in accordance with party principles, took up the
tariff question, and finally passed the Wilson bill, which President
Cleveland declared an act of "party perfidy and party dishonor," and
said if the house should at last concur in it, "they would not dare to
look the people of the country in the face."

The speeches of Major McKinley on the bill bearing his name show
the honesty of his convictions, and the superb consistency with which
he maintained himself amidst conflicting opinions and seeming dis-
aster. The return of a democratic house in 1890, after the passage of
the McKinley bill, and his own defeat as the result of another gerry-
mander, did not alarm him. He regarded it as only an insignificant
incident in a great conflict. To the weak-kneed among his friends,
those who could not penetrate the future as unerringly as he did, he
said : "Be firm ; This is only a cross current, a chop sea ; the tide of
truth flows surely on beneath."

The passage of the Wilson bill demoralized industry, and commer-
cial depression ensued that was only relieved when under the admin-
istration of President WilHam McKinley the Dingley tariff bill was
gsiacted.

CHAPTER VII.

Governor of Ohio.

After his defeat for congress in 1890, nothing- in the ordinary course
of events could have prevented Major McKinley from becoming gov-
ernor of Ohio. He had apparently made no plans looking toward such
a consummation, but the drift of talk set toward him at once as the
man to be nominated by the next republican state convention. He was
recognized as a man of broad views — his home folk never regarded
him as a man of one idea — and he had met all the duties which had been
thrust upon him so well that he inspired the people with the utmost confi-
dence. He w^as a safe man, his rectitude uncjuestioned, his devotion to
principle unshakable. But Ohio had many able men who aspired to
the governorship. ]\Iajor McKinley stated to his friends that he would
be pleased with the nomination for governor, but would not enter into
a contest for it.

When the legislature met In January the representatives of the peo-
ple were interviewed, and the sentiment in favor of Major McKinley
was so overwhelming that thenceforth no other man was spoken of for
tiie place by the re]iublicans. In the campaign for congress he had
made such a splendid canvass that the republicans felt sure he would
redeem the state for them. James E. Campbell, who had been elected
governor in 1889, by a plurality of 10,872, had declared that he had
made Ohio a permanently democratic state, and in order to keep it so,
the democratic leaders thought the defeat of Major McKinley for con-
gress would be essential. Consequently, they had unmercifully gerry-
mandered the state, so that even should the republicans carry it by 20,000
plurality, they could not hope to secure more than seven out of twenty-
one congressmen. But the republicans were in no wise dismayed. Con-
fidence in the party success became strong, and an unusually large
number of candidates for nomination on the republican state ticket pre-
sented themselves before the convention, which was held in Columbus in
June, but there was only one name mentioned for the gubernatorial
nomination — that of William McKinley.

When McKinley arrived at Columbus he received a great ovation.
It was one of the most enthusiastic conventions Ohio had seen since the

107

io8 Life of William McKinley

war of the rebellion. Ex-Governor Foraker nominated Major McKinley
in a characteristically brilliant speech, and upon motion of Ex-Governor
Foster, the nomination was unanimously conferred upon the major. In
his speech of acceptance. Major McKinley made an admirable presenta-
tion of the issues of the day, particularly as to currency and the tariff,
and stirred his auditors to a high pitch of enthusiasm. The platform
endorsed the "patriotic doctrine of protection," and likewise the
"amended coinage act of the last republican congress, by which the
entire production of the silver mines of the United States is added to
the currency of the people."

The democrats nominated Governor James E. Campbell, who had in
the previous campaign defeated Senator Foraker.

The campaign was formally opened in August, at Niles, McKinley's
birthplace. But in the interim, the major spoke at soldiers' reunions,
"harvest homes," etc. August 22c\, at Niles, he made his first formal
speech in the campaign. There was a large political and industrial
parade, which was reviewed by the gubernatorial candidate from the
veranda of the house in which he was born. From the day of his
nomination until his election, he made 13c speeches, and visited eighty-
four out of the eighty-eight counties of the state. His speeches were
always apt, and no man stirred the people more than he, though many
of the campaign orators were more eloquent. There was not one, how-
ever, who surpassed him in earnestness, or who more clearly defined
the issues of the campaign. As a result, he was elected by a splendid
plurality.

His administration as governor during the two terms was unos-
tentatious. He was the same plain "Major" McKinley he had been
throughout his congressional career. Red tape was abolished, and
any one who had any business with the executive could always reach
him. In his fi.rst inaugural address, he said:

"I approach the administration of the office with which I have been
clothed by the people deeply sensible of its responsibilities, and resolved
to discharge its duties to the best of my ability. It is my desire to co-
operate with you in every endeavor to secure a wise, economical and
honorable administration, and, so far as can be done, the improvement
and elevation of the public service."

This was the key note of his work as governor. He endeavored to
give to the public institutions the benefit of the services of the best men
of the state; and while there was never any question as to his stalwart
republicanism, he always tried to prevent inefiiciency and demoraliza-
tion in the management of the state institutions through the intro-
duction of extreme partisanship. At the inception of his administration

Our Martyred President lOQ

he realized the tendency to extravagance in public institutions, and he
advocated economy from the start, and insisted upon it through his
gubernatorial career. He approved of liberal appropriations for neces-
sities, and saw that abundant provision was made for tlie care of the
helpless and unfortunate wards of the state.

He never attempted to build up a personal machine, but acted fairly
and justly by every interest in the state, according to his best judgment.
Notwithstanding the arduous labor he had performed in connection with
national affairs, he displayed, as governor, a thorough knowledge of
the needs of the state, and his various messages to the legislature were
models of simplicity and directness. He advocated the preservation
and development of the canals of the state, the improvement of country
roads, just laws relating to labor, and other measures for the general
good.

The governor's sense of justice was exemplified in his first inaugural
address, when he came to consider the subject of gerrymandering. He
had several times been the victim of this vicious practice, but he did
not permit his personal experiences to sway him in pronoinicing upon
the matter. He told the legislature that it would be necessary, under
the new census, to redistrict the state, and said :

"Make the districts so fair in their relation to the political divisions
of our people, that they will stand until a new census shall be taken.
Make them so impartial that no future legislature will dare disturb them
until a new census and a new congressional apportionment will make a
change imperative. Extreme partisanship in this arrangement should be
avoided. There is a sense of fair play among the people which is prompt
to condemn a flagrant misuse of party advantage at the expense of pop-
ular suffrage. Partisanship is not to be discouraged, but encouraged in
all things where principle is at stake; but a partisanship which would
take from the people their just representation, as in the case of the con-
gressional redistricting by the last legislature, is an abuse of power
which the people are swift to rebuke."

Governor ilcKinley gave considerable time to the subject of taxa-
tion during his term of office, and called attention to the danger of
recklessly authorizing local indebtedness. This he believed to be such
an evil that he declared, "the creation of local indebtedness of counties
and municipalities, should not be authorized by the general assembly
without submission to the people, except for great emergency."

Governor McKInley's first term expired In 1893, and he was re-
nominated without opposition. His democratic competitor was the
Hon. L. T. Neal. Governor McKInley was elected by 80,000 plurality.

In a preceding chapter Governor McKinley's sympathy with the

no Life of William McKinley

laboring man has been pointed out. In 1886, in the national house uf
representatives, he advocated the biU providing for arbitration between
railroad corporations and their employes, and during his first term as
governor of Ohio, a law creating a state board of arbitration was passed.
He always favored legislation for the protection of workingmen in
hazardous occupations, and of procuring for them such considerate treat-
ment as of right belonged to them, and which could be secured by the
enactment of laws. In 1892 he recommended legislation for the safety
and comfort of the employes of steam railroads; in 1893 he repeated the
recommendation, and specifically urged the furnishing of automatic
couplers and air brakes for all railroad cars used in the state. In the
same year he called attention to the wonderful developemnt of street
railways and the application of electricity thereto, and urged that legis-
lative requirements should be made, looking to the safety of employes
and the traveling public. He recommended, also, that the legislature
should require that all street cars should be furnished with "vestibules,"
to protect the motormen and conductors from the severe weather to
which they are exposed. The legislature acted on his recommendation
and passed such a law.

But these were not all his services to the cause of labor. He ahvays
recommended arbitration of labor difiiculties when they were brought to
his attention, and bent every effort to secure such an outcome. In this
way the strike of the miners in the Massillon district was brought to
a close, after every other effort at settlement had failed. About twenty-
five mines were involved, and 2,000 mine workers had been idle for
eight months. The loss of earnings and business consequent upon the
strike, amounted to about $1,000,000. When Governor McKinley was
consulted about a settlement, he got the parties together, and, with the
aid of the state board of arbitration, a solution of the trouble was speed-
ily reached. This was accomplished without cost to the state, and
with no violence or malicious destruction of property.

The year 1894 is memorable for the labor troubles which occurred.
It was in that year that the railway men of the country, under the
direction of Eugene V. Debs, quit work and tied up nearly every
transportation line in the country. The national government ordered
out troops to see that there was no interference with the carrying of
mails, and nearly all of the states, from coast to coast, had their local sol-
diery under arms. In Ohio, the miners' strike, in June, caused trouble,
and a disposition was manifested to destroy property and interfere with
the rights of people not parties to the control. Governor McKinley was
prompt to act. He called out regiment after regiment until nearly every
national guardsman in the state — some 3,600 — was on duty.

Our Martyred President HI

The governor's action served notice upon everybody that he pro-
posed to uphold the dignity and the good name of the state, as long as
there was a soldier left to obey his orders. For sixteen days he re-
mained incessantly at his post, giving orders, seeing to the comfort of
the men and repressing any attempt to use the military rashly or unlaw-
fully. The troops were in the field many weeks, but the people had no
cause to complain of their doing more than their bounden duty. The
spirit of the governor inspired the troops, and, indeed, the whole state.
What he did was right at the time, and in the right way. He had
been through four years of active service during the war, and he knew
better than did the young men in tlie coal valleys of the state, what it
meant to march and to fight.

During that summer of trial, it is related that an employer of a
large number of men then on strike asked the governor what he would
do about ordering out the militia in a certain contingency, which it
was supposed might be reached. The governor answered :

'Tt is needless to ask what a public officer of Ohio wall do. He does
his duty. The practical question is wliat can we do, and what will
your employees do; what can we all do properly to divert the necessity
of using force? That is the question for immediate solution, at which
I have been engaged for some days." He had already secured the
attendance of the state board of arbitration, and that day a meeting
between the parties interested was held in his office, and before mid-
night the tidings were sent abroad that the great strike on the Hocking
Valley railway was ended. This was brought about without expense to
the state, and without any disturbance of the public peace.

By daylight the next day, July i8, the thousands of freight loaded
cars that had stood on switches for three weeks, the numerous coal
mines stopped through sympathy for the strikers, or for want of trans-
portation facilities, and the four thousand men who had been forced
into idleness, began to stir. In less than twenty-four hours all through
the Hocking Valley, every industry was in operation, and the credit for
this happy outcome was due, in no small degree, to the worthy governor
of the state.

Another incident, showing how swift and effective were the gov-
ernor's methods, occurred in 1895. "^vhen the Hocking Valley mines
were suffering because of a strike. January 7 a meeting was held at
Nelsonville of the Trades Labor Union, comprising the Hocking A^alley
mining district, for the purpose of effecting an organization and formu-
lating a plan to relieve the distress and destitution existing among the
miners and their families. After a full discussion of the situation, a
committee was appointed to wait upon Governor IMcKinley and present

112 Life of William McKinley

to him, on behalf of the miners, the memorial adopted at the meeting-.
January 8, the committee called upon the governor, and made a state-
ment relative to the condition of the miners, and the need of prompt
relief. The governor listened courteously, and suggested that the men
return to Nelsonville and request the mayor to call a meeting of the
citizens to consider the question of relief. When apprised of the result
of such a meeting, he promised to take immediate action looking toward
the carrying out of their wishes. The meeting of citizens was called,
as the governor had suggested, and the matter discussed. The sense
of the gathering was that relief must be immediate and must come from
the state. Consequently, a telegram was sent to the governor, which
he received at ii 45 p. m., January 9, saying, 'Tmmediate relief needed."
This was enough for the governor. He at once sent messengers to the
proprietor of wholesale groceries, a dealer in vegetables, flour, etc., a
transfer company, and the qfiicials of the Hocking Valley railroad com-
pany, to meet him immediately at his rooms. The subject of the meet-
ing was the purchase of a carload of provisions and its shipment early in
the morning. The supplies were purchased and loaded in the cars before
5 o'clock the next morning. As a result of the diligence, within nine
hours after the receipt of the message, the carload of provisions was in
Nelsonville ready to be distributed to the hungry.

Governor McKinley not only purchased the supplies, but also as-
sumed payment for them. He did not intend to ask the state to pay
for this carload of provisions, the cost of which was nearly $1,000, but
some of his friends learned that he had assumed the obligation, and they
at once took the matter in hand, and secured from state officers and
heads of departments the larger proportion of the amount, which they
turned over to him ; and this sum, added to his own subscription, liqui-
dated the obligation assumed by him.

This, of course, did not suffice to permanently relieve the distress
existing, and at various times thereafter, during January and February,
the governor was called upon for assistance. He met each appeal
promptly, and at various times appointed committees to visit the dis-
tressed sections, and report as to the real situation. February 19, he
addressed a communication to the boards of trade and chamber of
commerce in Cincinnati, Columbus, Cleveland and Toledo, requesting
the appointment of committees to visit the mining districts and inves-
tigate and report on the conditions there existing.

The relief v,'ork was prosecuted systematically, and even when the
governor w^as out of the city, his orders were to see that every appeal
for help w^as fully met. These Instructions were followed, and tlie
chairman of the general relief committee reported at the close of the

LYMAN J. GAGE
Secretary of the Treasury

Our Martyred President 113

work that the promptness with which Governor McKinley acted, and
the hberal contributions made, prevented hunger and suffering on the
part of the miners.

The final report of the chairman of the general relief committee,
made February 17, showed 2,723 miners out of employment, repre-
senting a population of 10,000. It was further declared that the families
of these miners had been made comfortable, during a period of several
weeks, by the efforts of the relief committee, the cost being $32,796.95.

One other feature of the reign of Governor McKinley needs to be
mentioned, because it shows how strongly he felt that the supremacy of
the law should be maintained at all times. At Buffalo, when he saw
that attack made upon the assassin, he said : "See that no harm comes
to him." He anticipated that an outraged populace might take sum-
mary vengeance upon the miscreant, and such action did not meet his
views. In October, 1894, at the request of the authorities of Fayette
county, he ordered the militia to Washington Court House. A heinous
crime had been committed there, the criminal had been apprehended
and, with proper regard for his rights, had been given a fair trial. The
verdict was guilty and the culprit was sentenced to the limit of punish-
ment fixed by law. This did not satisfy some of the boisterous spirits
in the community, and an attempt was made to lynch the prisoner. The
mob was held back for some time by the militia, under command of
Colonel Coit. The soldiers were stationed in the courthouse. When
the excitement was at its height, an attack was made upon the court-
house, and the guardsmen fired upon the mob, killing three people. A
great uproar resulted, many declaring the soldiers should not have fired.
A military court was instituted to inquire into the conduct of Colonel
Coit, and he was absolved from all blame. Governor McKinley, true to
his convictions, sustained the brave officer. He said :

"The law was upheld, as it should have been, and, as I believe it
always will be in Ohio — but in this case at fearful cost. Much as the
destruction of life which took place is deplored by all good citizens,
and much as we sympathize with those who suffered in this most
unfortunate affair, surely no friend of law and order can justly con-
demn the national guard, under command of Colonel Coit. for having
performed its duty fearlessly and faithfully, and in the face of great
danger, for the peace and dignity of the state.

"Lynching cannot be tolerated in Ohio. The law of the state must
be supreme over all, and the agents of the law, acting within the law,
must be sustained.

"The proceedings and findings of the court of inquiry have been

carefully considered by me. I hereby announce my approval of the con-

114 Life of William McKinley

elusions of said court, which find that Colonel Coit and his officers and
enlisted men of Fourteenth Infantry, O. N. G., acted with prudence
and judgment, and within the law, supporting the civil authority of
Fayette county, and in the aid of it, and acting in pursuance of lawful
orders, and that they performed their duty with singular fidelity, and
that through them the majesty of the law, and government by law, was
vindicated and sustained."

One year later another attempt at lynching was made at Tiffin,
Seneca county. The sheriff and his deputies resisted the mob and called
upon the governor for aid. With amazing celerity he started four com-
panies from as many different cities, to the scene of the trouble, and
their prompt arrival prevented the threatened disgrace.

CHAPTER VIII.

Financial Troubles. Loyalty to Friends.

An unfortunate event, and one which brought to its central figure
much grief and humihation, but nothing savoring of dishonor, occurred
while Major McKinley was governor of Ohio. It involved him in
financial ruin, the result of his too great confidence in a life-long friend.
But though one friend seemingly betrayed him, the episode raised up a
host of friends for the gentle and earnest man who so bravely met the
crisis, and in a short time all the difficulties were adjusted. The gov-
ernor found himself untrammeled by debt, as a result of the persistent
and unsolicited action of his friends, and his future in no way jeopard-
ized by the trying experience through which he had passed.

An impartial historian cannot pass over this episode. It has been the
subject of too many mis-statements, and justice demands that a clear
presentation of the facts shall be made.

In the beginning it may be said that one of Governor McKinley's
warmest friends in Ohio was Robert L. Walker, of Youngstown. They
had known each other from boyhood, and, measured by the ordinary
standards, both had achieved success in life. Governor McKinley had
climbed high in the estimation of the people ; had irremovably fixed his
name in the legislative annals of his country, and occupied the highest
office in the gift of the people of his state.

Mr. Walker was a capitalist, banker, and the head of numerous
manufacturing enterprises. Among these were the Farmers' National
Bank of Youngstown, and the Girard Savings Bank, of both of which
he was the president. The Youngstown Stamping Company, a stove
works, and several coal mines were also among his possessions. Con-
sequently, Mr. Walker was a leading man in the community, and one
who was most highly respected. His wealth was estimated at
$2,500,000.

When Major McKinley returned to Canton after the war, and deter-
mined to study law, he soon found himself in need of money. It was
not a difficult task for him to obtain it, for he had a reputation for integ-
rity, and he had the assurance that any financial obligation he contracted
would be discharged to the utmost farthing. It was not strange, there-
fore, in view of the long acquaintance between Major McKinley and

ii6 Life of William McKinley

Mr, Walker, and the differences in their circumstances, that he should
turn to Mr. Walker for assistance. It was immediately forthcoming,
and was repaid in good time. Subsequently, when fully launched on
his political career. Major McKinley had need for money. The cam-
paign expenses during his first race for congress were heavy, and there
was a mortgage on some of his wife's property which had to be paid.
In these straits Major McKinley secured a loan of $2,000 from Mr.
Walker. This loan was paid within two years, out of his salary as
congressman, and from time to time other loans were made to him.
Major McKinley's income was practically $5,000 a year — his salary
as a congressman. He may have had an occasional fee as a lawyer, but
it was nothing he could count on. His expenses, largely on account of
the illness of Mrs. McKinley, were heavy, and swallowed up his salary.
To meet his campaign assessments during the early part of his career,
he had to borrow money, and Mr. Walker was usually the man to fur-
nish it. After Major McKinley had attained fame in congress, no more
campaign assessments were levied upon him, and,- being, an abstemious
and studious man, not at all given to social display, he managed to
accumulate about $20,000, which was invested in real estate and securi-
ties. His chief real estate possession was his modest home in Canton.

In the early part of 1893, Mr. Walker informed Governor McKinley
that he was greatly in need of money, and asked that he endorse certain
notes. These notes Mr. Walker proposed to have discounted. The
governor did not think it necessary to inquire into or investigate the
affairs of Mr. Walker. It was enough that his friend — the man who
had stood by him in time of need — wanted assistance, and he rendered it.

The governor endorsed, as he supposed, about $15,000 worth of
Mr. Walker's paper, and dismissed the matter from his mind. The
notes were made payable in thirty, sixty, and ninety days, and the gov-
ernor's endorsement made them easily negotiable.

February 17, 1893, Mr. Walker's affairs went to ruin. An assign-
ment was made by Mr. Walker, and Youngstown was astonished beyond
measure at the news. The failure of the Youngstown Stamping Com-
pany to meet a judgment for $12,000 caused the assignment, and the
next day the other Walker enterprises were engulfed in ruin. Efforts
were begun at once, by commercial agencies and newspapers, to learn
the extent of the failure. Banks began to dig up their Walker paper,
and soon the governor began to receive dispatches from various parts
of the state concerning notes which he had endorsed. He had an
engagement to attend a banquet of the Ohio Society in New York at
this time, but he canceled it and went at once to Youngstown. There
he ascertained that instead of having endorsed $15,000 worth of paper

Our Martyred President 117

for his friend, he was liable for nearly $100,000. He had been led Lo
believe, also, that the notes had been discounted in but three banks, but
now it appeared many banks had them, and the governor was dumb-
founded. He held a conference with his friends, and told them that
fully one-half the notes he had endorsed were made out to take up old
notes that he had endorsed, and which had not been paid. Investiga-
tion showed that the old notes were still outstanding, and that the new-
notes added to the liabilities, until the original debt had been quintupled.
Mr. Walker's liabilities were about $200,000, and his assets not one-half
that sum. The governor was not interested, financially, in any of Mr.
Walker's enterprises.

The conference with his Youngstown friends was an earnest one,
and various ways of meeting the situation were suggested. At the con-
clusion of the meeting, the governor said : 'T can hardly believe this,
but it appears to be true. I don't know what my liabilities are, but
whatever I owe shall be paid, dollar for dollar." He at once proceeded
to put this resolution into effect. Mrs. McKinley owned property
valued at $75,000, which had been left by her father. On the 22d of
February, five days after the assignment of Mr. Walker, the governor
and his wife made an unqualified assignment of all their property to
trustees, to be used, without preference, for the equal benefit of their
creditors. The trustees were : H. H. Kohlsaat, of Chicago ; Myron
T. Herrick, of Cleveland, and Judge Wm. R. Day, of Canton.

Mrs. McKinley was urged by friends to retain an interest in her
property, but she declined to do so. Instead she turned it all over to
Mark A. Hanna, of Cleveland, to go toward liquidating the claims
against her husband. Governor McKinley, when asked at this time for
an explanation of the situation, said:

"I did what I could to help a friend who had befriended me. The
result is known. I had no interest in any of the enterprises Mr. Walker
was carrying. The amount of my endorsements is in excess of any-
thing I dreamed. There is but one thing for me to do — one thing I
would do — meet this unlocked for burden as best I can. I have this
day placed all my property in the hands of trustees, to be used to pay
my debts. It will be insufficient, but I will execute notes and pay them
as fast as I can. I shall retire from politics, take up the practice of law,
and begin all over again."

His friends, however, had no intention of allowing him to do any-
thing of the kind. Already the Chicago Inter-Ocean had started a fund
to relieve the governor of his liabilities, and money was rapidly pouring
m from those who sympathized with him. Governor McKinley. how-
ever, refused to accept this expression of good feeling. He forbade

ii8 Life of William McKinley

the paper to continue to receive money, and returned that taken in to
the subscribers.

Then some of his friends determined to raise a fund by private sub-
scription, and pay the governor's debts. The men who undertook to
do this were: M. A. Hanna, and Myron T. Herrick, of Cleveland;
P. D. Armour, Marshall Field, and H. H. Kohlsaat, of Chicago; and
Bellamy Stover and Thomas McDougall, of Cincinnati. The fund was
managed by Mr. Kohlsaat, who afterwards said of the matter :

"One of the chief reasons why the subscription plan was adopted
was because a number of subscriptions were received anonymously and
could not be returned. There were over 4.000 subscriptions sent in,
and when the last piece of paper was taken up, bearing Major McKin-
ley's name, no more subscriptions were received, and some were returned.
No list of the subscribers was kept, and Governor McKinley does not
know to this day, Xvith the possible exception of four or five names, who
contributed the money.

"When Governor McKinley saw the publication of the subscription
scheme he wrote to me absolutely declining to receive a dollar. Mr.
Hanna and his other friends told him to leave the matter alone, for if
his friends wished to assist him they should have the privilege."

Myron T. Herrick was treasurer of the fund, and took up the
paper as fast as it was presented. When the indebtedness had all been
repaid, the trustees deeded back to Governor and Mrs. McKinley the
property they had been so willing to sacrifice to preserve the governor's
credit. The incident cannot be considered as a reflection on the busi-
ness ability of Governor McKinley. He did what almost any man
would have done under like circumstances, and when he found his con-
fidence had been betrayed, he prepared to do all in his power to prevent
any one from suffering through an act of his.

LOYALTY TO HIS FRIENDS.

No episode in all Major McKinley's career shines out more clearly
than his high sense of honor as evinced in his devotion to the interests
of his political friends in national conventions. At no time did he
allow ambition to mislead him, though there were times when he must
have been sorely tempted. That he was in line for the nomination for
the presidency he must have known, and felt, but there is nowhere evi-
dence of his self-seeking. He went to conventions instructed to do
certain things, or pledged to certain interests, and all the glory and
honor the v^^orld had to offer could not have induced him to betray the
trust reposed in him.

The Ohio republican state convention of 1884 was held at Cleve-

Our Martyred President 119

land, in April. Major McKinley went to Cleveland fresh from a tariff
debate in congress, and was made permanent chairman of the conven-
tion. The Blaine following manifestly was in the majority at the con-
vention, bnt the Sherman men had the best organization, and most of
the "old-time" politicians of the state were pronouncedly in favor of the
Ohio senator. The great struggle at the convention was on the election
of four delegates-at-large. Although it was well understood that For-
aker's first choice was Sherman, the Blaine men generously acquiesced
in his election by acclamation as a delegate-at-large. A number of
names were then presented for the remaining three places, and a sensa-
tion was created when one delegate mounted a chair and nominated
Major McKinley.

Major McKinley from his place as presiding officer thanked the con-
vention, but said that he could not allow his name to go before it at this
time,* as he had promised that he would not allow his name to be used
while the names of certain candidates were before the convention. The
uproar became tumultuous. A majority of the delegates w-ere plainly
in favor of the election of Major McKinley by acclamation, although
there w^as some objection. One of the delegates, assuming the preroga-
tives of the chair, put the motion, and declared it carried. Major Mc-
Kinley ruled that the motion had not prevailed. General Grosvenor
mounted the platform and the second time put the motion and declared
it carried.

Again Major McKinley ruled that the motion had not prevailed and
insisted on the vote being taken on the names already submitted, exclud-
ing his own. Once more General Grosvenor arose — this time to a point
of order. He insisted that Major McKinley had been elected by accla-
mation, and that the convention had now to elect two more delegates-
at-large. The chair overruled the point of order, and a-mid tumultuous
confusion ordered the balloting to go on. A delegate arose and asked
the convention to consider Major McKinley as having been put in nomi-
nation, despite his declination. At this there w^ere thunders of cheers.
From early in the balloting it was evident that Major McKinley was
bound to be elected. Counties that had favored other candidates aban-
doned them and voted solidly for the Major. After between 300 and,
400 votes had been cast for Major McKinley and it was recognized
by everybody that he had already been elected, a motion was made that
he be elected by acclamation. Further contest was stopped, and Major
McKinley was elected a delegate-at-large by acclamation.

In the national convention at Chicago Major McKinley bore himself
modestly, but his great quality of leadership came to the front by force
of circumstances. He only spoke two or three times from the floor of

I20 Life of William McKinley

the convention, but every time he arose he attracted attention, and the
influence he exerted was remarkable. At the critical time during the
convention his was the voice that rallied the Blaine forces. Three bal-
lots had been taken. Blaine gained on each ballot. The final and
desperate effort was made by the other candidate under the lead of the
dashing Foraker, in Sherman's behalf, for an adjournment. There was
pandemonium, and there threatened to be a panic.

In the midst of the storm Major McKinley arose. He waved his
hand and the tumult ceased. Calm and like granite he stood the master
spirit of the convention. His short speech was carried in clarion tones
all over the immense hall. As a friend of Blaine, he said, he recognized
and respected the rights of the friends of other candidates to secure an
adjournment, and concluded :

The excitement in the convention hall had become intense. Theo-
dore Roosevelt, the youthful Nev/ Yorker, who came finally, in oppo-
sition to his wishes, to be associated with Major McKinley on a
presidential ticket; George W. Curtis, the editor of Harper's Weekly,
and others, were on chairs yelling to be heard. General Henderson, of
Missouri, the chairman, was trying to quell the tumult, and the massive
and phlegmatic Dutcher, of New York, one of President Arthur's adher-
ents, was trying with might and main to secure recognition from the
chair.

In the midst of the confusion Major McKinley arose. Though
not a tall man, he seemed to tower above those around him. His face
was pale, like a piece of marble statuary, except that his eyes fairly
blazed. In clarion tones his voice rang out, and the tumult ceased.
It was evident that he was the dominating spirit of that convention.
For a moment he stood like a splendid granite column, and then, silence
having been secured, said that, as a friend of Blaine, he respected the
rights of the other candidates to secure an adjournment. He did not
say he favored an adjournment, but added :

"Let the motion be put and let everybody favorable to the nomina-
tion of Blaine vote against it."

That settled it. Under Major McKinley's leadership, assumed
spontaneously and boldly, the Blaine men accepted the challenge, the
motion for an adjournment was voted dow^n, and the victory was won.
It was not defeat that Major McKinley turned aside — the situation was
not so serious as that — but in a crisis, when the Blaine men were getting
demoralized and the convention was turning itself into a mob, the Major,
leaping to the front, by one command marshaled the Blaine men into
line and pressed them forward to their already sighted victory. Major
McKinley was chairman of the committee on resolutions at that conven-

Our Martyred President 121

tion, and when he appeared to read the platform he received an ovation
that was one of the features of that great event.

Major McKinley's next appearance at a repubhcan national conven-
tion was in 1888, and this time he came at the head of the Ohio dele-
gation, and in John Sherman's behalf. At this convention no candidate
had been able to secure a majority. Sherman, Alger, Allison, Harrison,
Gresham, and Depew, all had a strong following, but none was near a
nomination. Major McKinley, at the head of the Ohio delegation,
instructed to vote solidly for Sherman, was one of the heroes of the
convention. His entrance at each session was greeted with the wild-
est enthusiasm. Day and night he was at work among the various
state delegations, laboring to secure votes for Ohio's great financier.
On the sixth ballot a delegate voted for William McKinley, and was
greeted by cheers which swelled again and again before silence could
be restored. The next state that was called cast seventeen votes for
Major McKinley, and ag^ain the cheers broke forth. The drift was
unmistakably setting toward McKinley like an ocean tide.

Everyone expected to see the Garfield nomination of 1880 repeated.
But they were disappointed. The roll call was interrupted by the Major,
who, leaping upon a chair at the end of the middle aisle, pale, but calm
and determined, uttered a speech which, unpremeditated as it was, has
seldom been surpassed for eloquence, candor and unselfish loyalty. In
it he declared his inability to be a candidate with honor to himself, and
proclaimed his unswerving loyalty to the Ohio chieftain. The tide was
turned. On the seventh ballot Benjamin Harrison was named, but
McKinley w-ent home to Ohio stronger than ever in the hearts of his
fellow men.

Some time before the republican national convention of 1892, held
in Minneapolis, Minn., June 7, Governor McKinley had privately and
publicly expressed himself as in favor of the renomination of President
Harrison. Having committed himself, the governor stood by his decla-
ration. He was elected a delegate-at-large as a Harrison man, and the
understanding was that Ohio would vote solidly for the President's
nomination.

The convention elected Governor McKinley its permanent chairman.
R. M. Nevin, of Dayton, was his alternate. Before he took the chair
as presiding officer the governor specifically charged Mr. Nevin to vote
for Harrison. Only one vote was taken on the nomination for presi-
dent. When Ohio was called ex-Governor Foraker said Ohio asked
time for a consultation, and after a pause the vote of the state was
announced as: Harrison, 2 votes; William McKinley, 44. Chairman
McKinley immediately sprang from his seat and shouted:

"I challenge the vote of Ohio!"

122 Life of William McKinley

A brief and animated debate then ensiiecl between ex-Governor
Foraker and Governor McKinley, in which Foraker told the chairman
that he had ceased to be a member of the Ohio delegation on assuming
the post of presiding officer, and could not be recognized. Finally a
roll call of the Ohio delegation was ordered, and this resulted, McKin-
ley, 45; Harrison, i. The only vote for Harrison cast by the Ohio
delegation was that cast by Governor McKinley's alternate. President
Harrison was renominated on the first and only ballot, but the governor
had 182 votes cast for him despite the fact that he was not a candidate.
At the conclusion of the balloting Governor McKinley took the floor
and moved that the president's nomination be made unanimous, and
the motion carried. The governor was chosen chairman of the com-
mission that officially notified the president of his nomination.

The result of the campaign of 1892 was a surprise to both the leading
political parties. Grover Cleveland, the democratic candidate for
president, was elected, and both the house and senate had large demo-
cratic majorities. The political revolution was remarkable, and was
largely due to the populist movement, and to fusion between the popu-
lists and democrats in the south and west. The clamor for the free
coinage of silver, at the ratio of 16 to i, and the industrial depression
which set in in 1893, brought Governor McKinley into the public eye
as the man calculated to restore prosperity to the country. Meanwhile
he adhered strictly to his duties as governor of Ohio.

CHAPTER IX.

Great Campaign of 1894.

The years 1893 and 1894 were years of sore trial to the people of
the United States. The incoming of a democratic administration and
the fear that the tariff would be again overhauled had frightened timid
people. Other influences combined to augment the general distrust, and
soon a panic ensued, which was widespread, and devastating in its
effects.

Corporations were pushed to the wall, banks closed their doors,
solvent firms sought refuge in the hands of receivers, great financial
institutions resorted to extraordinary combinations i-n the hope of stem-
ming the almost resistless tide, the people took alarm and drained the
savings banks of their deposits, orders for merchandise and commodities
stopped, and whole communities of wage-earners were discharged from
mines, mills, factories and workshops.

In the face of financial gloom and despair, the financiers, the busi-
ness men, the captains of industry, exhibited courage, determination
and the highest order of patriotism. They risked their fortunes in the
effort to stem the current rapidly running against them. They stood
in the ranks with angry and panic-stricken men and women and pointed
out the folly of withdrawing money from sound and well-managed
banks. They kept open their mills and factories until forced to close
for want of orders. They, by their enterprise, forced a return of some
gold to our shores. The tide of calamity following the advent of the
democratic party to power at one time bade fair to engulf the business
interests of the nation.

Labor, likewise, acted heroically. Reduction of wages was accepted.
Factories went on half time without a protest from the employees, and
thousands daily joined the mournful army of the unemployed with the
cherished hope that a few weeks would bring about better times. Here
and there the cry went up for bread or v;ork, and at such gatherings
the socialistic spirit naturally came to the front. The hundreds of
thousands, however, suddenly emerging from a long- period of pros-
perity, did not feel at once the pinch of poverty. They were ])eaceable
and hopeful, and, like the business men of the country, turned to the

124 Life of William McKinley

party In power for some remedy — to the party which promised so much
to the wage-earner.

And what was the remedy offered? In the late summer of 1894 a
tariff bill was passed which deepened the shade in the picture above
given. It brought about greater suspense in our industries. It filled
with uncertainty every branch of industry and trade. In fact, millions
of anxious, careworn American citizens who had looked for statesman-
like action found only indifference and incapacity both in the law and
the methods employed to secure its passage. Nothing was being done
to turn the tide and relieve the people. With no steady, courageous
hand and comprehensive brain at the helm, national legislation had
drifted into an uncertainty that bewildered even the friends of the admin-
istration. At this crisis the calm wisdom, vast experience, infinite
industrial knowledge and courageous determination of William Mc-
Kinley was called for by the people of the United States in the most
unmistakable manner. It does not detract from the achievements or
reputation of any other contemporary republican leaders to say that
there never was in time of peace such a universal demand for a states-
man, and it is doubtful if there ever was another such campaign as that
which McKinley opened in September, 1894.

In this man, merely the governor of one of our forty-four states, the
people recognized a statesman of courage and action. He was in touch
with the labor and with the industrial and the financial interests of the
country. In such an emergency they could rely upon his advice being
sound and for the good of the country. It is said by those who know,
that there was not a state in the north at this crisis in the nation's history
that did not clamor for McKinley. The Ohio republican state com-
mittee was almost in despair at the demands that came for McKinley's
time. Every county in Ohio wanted him to speak in it. and it was a
physical impossibility for the committee to meet the demands and
requests which poured in upon it. He was not only wanted because
of his pleasing personality and earnest devotion to the republican party,
but because he of all others was best able to crystallize the sentiment of
protection and win the country back again to the American system, undei'
which the nation was prosperous and the people contented and happy.

In commenting on this campaign, Mr. Samuel G. McClure, wdio was
with McKinley part of the time, says : "It is a simple statement of facts
to say that the tours made by McKinley in the past seven weeks have
no parallel in American political history. The swings around the circle
made by Presidents Cleveland and Harrison are the only journeys in
recent years wdiich may be compared to them, and they were not in any
strict sense of the word political at all. The desire to see the chief exe-

Our Martyred President 125

cutive of the nation in both of these cases and to do him honor were the
great moving causes tiiat prompted display and large attendance. But
in the tours which McKinley made, the ofikial function was entirely
absent. In its stead was the wish to honor the greatest exponent of a
great cause and to hear the tariff di::,cussed by its master. On the part
of McKinley it was very far from a matter of self-seeking. For years
he has always been at the service of the republican party whenever it
saw fit to command him and it was in his power to comply. He had
made remarkable tours before this one, and in each instance at the request
of the committee where he was called to speak. This was conspicu-
ously the case this year.

"The combined tours far exceeded the distance half round the world.
It is one of the marvels of the man that he was able to undergo all the
fatigue which this immense feat implies, and yet close the campaign in as
good health as when he began and without having lost a pound iii
weight. Very often he was the last of the little party to retire, and
almost invariably he was the first to rise. He seemed tireless, and every
state committee in the Mississippi valley and beyond it apparently took
it for granted that the gallant champion of 'patriotism, protection and
orosperity' could not be over-worked. When he consented to make
one speech, for them, the}- forthwith arranged half a dozen short stops
en route, and kept him talking almost constantly from daybreak till late
at night. He agreed to make forty-six set speeches in all during the
campaign, and when he had concluded he had not only made them, but
had spoken at no less than 325 other points as well. For over eight
weeks he averaged better than seven speeches a day. At least two of
these daily were to large audiences where he was compelled to talk for
an hour or more. The others varied from ten minutes to half an hour
in length, and were frequently addressed to crowds of five thousand
people. On several occasions, as the special train was hurrying him
along, he was called out for a talk before he had breakfasted, and would
find to his surprise that one, two or three thousand persons had gathered
at that early hour to see and hear him. It was not McKinley who sought
nil this, it was the people who sought McKinley.

"It did not require any great perception to discover that the glow-
ing accounts which the press associations carried about his meetings
were in fact modest and moderate narratives of what transpired daily.
The correspondents were expected to give non-partisan accounts, and
did so, though some of the democratic papers, which were served by the
press associations, were growling at what they assumed was the exag-
geration the correspondents were guilty of. The fact is. the meetings
were not overdrawn in the least. If anything, the press narratives did

126 Life of William McKinley

not do them full justice, simply because to have done so would have
called forth general protests from the democratic papers and the charge
that the accounts were highly colored. It is not strange that this should
be the case. No one who was not with McKinley part or all of the
time can form an adequate conception of the enthusiasm and interest
with which he was received in all parts of the nation. It had to be seen
to be realized."

Another graphic story of this campaign was told by Harry Miner,
the correspondent of the Cincinnati Times-Star, who accompanied Gov-
ernor McKinley. Said Mr. Miner:

"Governor McKinley is winding up what has been, perhaps, the
most remarkable political campaigning tour made by any man in this
country. He has spoken in sixteen states, namely, Ohio, Indiana, Illi-
nois, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michi-
gan, Kentucky, Louisiana, West Virginia, Tennessee, Pennsylvania and
New York. He has made as many as twenty-three speeches in one day,
most of them, of course, being short. It has been estimated by those
who have been with him that he has addressed two million people.

"The audiences which have flocked to hear McKinley have been enor-
mous. In many places the crowds that went to hear him were the largest
ever gathered in those places upon any occasion.

"People traveled for great distances to hear him. At Lincoln, Neb.,
there were among his hearers 500 cowboys who had ridden ninety miles
on their mustangs for the sole purpose of hearing protection's chief
exponent. At St. Paul there were several men in the audience who came
300 miles from their homes in Dakota to hear him speak, and at Hunt-
ington, West Virginia, a man traveled 200 miles to hear McKinley' s
speech.

"It is probable that the largest meeting was at Hutchinson, Kansas,
where the number of outsiders was estimated at not less than 30,000,
coming from Texas, Nebraska, Missouri, Oklahoma and Indian Terri-
tory. In the Eastern States the crowds were very large, but perhaps not
quite so much so as in the Western States. It is estimated that the
crowd at Albany numbered not less than 10,000 persons. At Utica,
Syracuse and Philadelphia many thousands were turned away from the
doors of the large halls, and huge as the crowd was it was not so large
as the crowd outside, which was not even able to get inside of the doors.

"It was a good deal easier for McKinley to talk to audiences this
year on political issues than it was two years ago. These great popular
demonstrations would seem to indicate two things — that McKinley is
respected, confided in and admired by the people of the country, and
that the people want to know about protection. Before he was telling

Our Martyred President 127

the people what would happen; now he was telling them how to undo
what they had already done. His prophecy of two years before has been
proved by events to be correct.

"It would hardly be fair to accuse the committees that had charge of
McKinley of being unfeeling, but it is certainly true that they worked
him like a horse, or more properly speaking, like that tireless and amiable
animal, the uncomplaining mule. From the moment that a state com-
mittee laid hands on him they worked him without cessation, making
him get up at six o'clock in the morning, take a bite of breakfast and
rush out and make a speech, and then keep on making speeches until late
at night. No word of complaint ever came from McKinley, but he was
most awfully tired out. But once did he say anything which indicated
that he felt he was being overworked. He addressed two immense meet-
ings in Syracuse, N. Y., finishing his last speech shortly after ten o'clock.
His train was not to leave until eleven, and on his way to the hotel after
the last meeting he turned to the Mayor and expressed assumed surprise
that he was to be allowed to waste a full hour which he might have put
in in making another speech. The Mayor was not familiar with McKin-
ley's dry humor and hastened to apologize for not having arranged a
third meeting.

"However, the next night at Philadelphia, McKinley had a chance to
make three speeclies, and did so.

"McKinley found a queer feature of political campaigning in the
South. Political meetings there are usually held on Sunday. The rea-
son for this is that men in the country districts are adverse to losing a
day's time from their work and demand that political stumpers shall do
their talking on the Sabbath day. McKinley was asked to make a few
speeches in Mississippi and Alabama on Sunday, while returning from
New Orleans, but he gently declined, of course."

One of the most interesting of these meetings was that held at New
Orleans, in October. The Protectionists of that state had been clamor-
ous for Governor McKinley's services, but had been repeatedly refused
by the Ohio State Committee. Finally a representative came to plead
the case, and consent was given, the Governor's dates in Ohio being can-
csled. His trip through the South was an ovation. Enthusiastic crowds
greeted him all along the line, and at several places he spoke briefly. The
meeting in New Orleans was held in an immense amphitheater accommo-
dating more than 12,000 people. It was packed to the doors by an
audience that was assuredly anxious to be enlightened. Tl:e New
Orleans Picayune, a radical Democratic newspaper, gave the following
account of the affair:

"McKinley appears a little ur.der middle height, and this defect of

128 Life of William McKinley

under size is increased by the exceeding squareness and solidity both of
form and face. His forehead, smooth and white, overhangs eyes deep-
set under bushy eyebrows of jet black. He has a trick, when asking a
question, of lifting those eyebrows so that the latent fire in his eyes
flashes forth suddenly and sharp. His mouth is mobile, the face clean
shaven, the hair thin on the top and straggling to the coat collar in
innumerable fine points.

"McKinley looks very like the pictures which have of late been lib-
erally distributed throughout the city.

"In speaking, McKinley has few but effective gestures, the chief of
which is a sort of reiterated hammering into space, as though driving a
nail into the atmosphere. Though the Auditorium arena is wonderfully
large, McKinley's voice filled it easily. And it is a voice in itself singu-
larly rich in the variety of inflection and emphasis, deriving an added
zest from the western drawl and mannerism still clinging to it.

"Considered simply a forensic display, McKinley's speech was exceed-
ingly interesting. The exquisite art with which he evaded all the topics
which, such as the Force bill, might have touched his audience too nearly,
was admirable. His array of argument was marshaled with the skill of
a practical debater, presenting with marvelous ability an epitome of the
republican philosophy of politics.

"It was but natural that, in addressing an audience so thoroughly
Southern, Mr. McKinley should lay special emphasis on the part which
the South had played in the history of tariff legislation. As he delineated
the origin of the republican tariff through the effort of Southern states-
men, the applause was fairly indescribable. From the gallery a voice
cried out: 'Give it to them, McKinley; give it to them.' A burst of
laughter attended this ejaculation, but the orator never smiled. He
mopped the perspiration from his forehead, and while the din continued
refreshed his memory from his notes. The applause again became up-
roarious when, a few moments later, he declared that the burden of the
present administration, 'with Its free trade laws,' was the greatest burden
the people had borne for thirty years.

"Nor did the audience fail to respond when, by a ready object lesson,
the speaker illustrated the operation of the tariff in relation to the manu-
facture of glass tumblers. 'Every tumbler imported,' he said, 'represents
the displacement of a tumbler of domestic manufacture. If you cut the
tariff on glass and expect to receive an increased revenue, the importa-
tion must be redoubled. Is that what you want?'

"And the vast assembly fairly went wild for five minutes.
"Again, when the governor declared that the displacement of an
American laborer meant the cessation of his wages, a voice cried out :

MARK. HANNA

Our Martyred President 129

" 'The result is starvation,'

With a ready answer, McKinley rephed :

" 'Like the people everywhere, are you ready to vote ?'

"From the benches immediately in front, one of the charcoal delega-
tion responded : 'Vote for you ;' and another supplemented with, 'Vote
for you for the next presidency.'

"Soon after the democratic element was heard from. The governor
said : 'They said we had a splendid prosperity under President Cleve-
land in his first administration; so we had.' 'Hear, hear,' mingled with
cheers, rose loudly from the Old Guard.

" 'And do you know why?'

" TSFo,' from a voice in the gallery.

" 'Because all Cleveland did was to execute the republican laws
already in existence.'

"And the republicans cheered.

" 'War and treason,' resumed McKinley, 'are the words of President
Cleveland. He is a peace man in war; a war man in peace.'

"Great laughter follov/ed this declaration. Under cover of it, Gov-
ernor McKinley asked Mr. Ferris the time. Cries immediately arose,
'Go on, go on.' 'We can wait till tomorrow morning to hear that.'

" 'Why is it,' asked the orator a moment later; 'why is it that amid
all the resources of the land we are suffering?'

"(A voice, 'Why is it?')

" 'I can answer in a word. The democrats are running the govern-
ment, and nothing else is running. Every industry is practically stopped;
no man can calculate the loss to the people of this country in investment,
property, wages. We have been at school. It has been a universal, a
sort of compulsory education, from the benefits of which none have been
excluded. (Laughter and applause.) While the tuition has been free,
the ultimate cost has been very great. ( Laughter. ) We ha\-e l)ecn
blessed with experience if we haven't been blessed with anything else.'
(Laughter and prolonged applause.)

"Then followed the most dramatic scene of the evening. Mr. Mc-
Kinley had hitherto confined himself to an analysis in general terms of
issues affecting all sections of the country alike. Said the orator : 'Wha^
party has taken from you the protection that the Republicans gave?'

" 'The Democrats,' cried an excited voice. 'D — n them.'

" 'When we framed the law of 1890,' declared the governor, 'we
undertook to frame a bill based on the principles of protection. We per-
mitted everything to come in free which we could not or did not pro-
duce.'

" 'Enough of that,' cried a voice. 'Give us the Force bill'

130 Life of William McKinley

"a good many people were anxious to hear McKinley on that sub-
ject, and for a moment absolute silence reigned. A committeeman
whispered to him: 'He calls for something about the P'orce bill.'

*' 'I cannot be diverted from this discussion,' said Mr. McKinley,
looking around and speaking in his loudest voice. 'If any proper ques-
tion be put to me I will endeavor to reply as best I can. (Wild applause.)
I believe in the purest and fairest debate on all public questions, and in
my public life or my private record I have nothing to conceal.'

"And that appeal, so eloquent, so ingenious, captured his hearers, and
the last great burst of applause followed. When the cheers ceased to
ring, Mr. McKinley, turning first to one side and then to the other, so as
to address comprehensively the entire assembly, delivered the el-oquent
peroration wjiich, expressing the determination of the party to discharge
bv Louisiana its duties no less sacredly than by Ohio, closed his great
effort."

CHAPTER X.

Nominated for President.

When Governor McKinley retired from the office of chief execu-
tive of the state of Ohio, in 1895, he returned to his home at Canton,
there to Hve quietly. The great campaign of 1894 had brought him
so close to the people, however, and so tilled them with confidence in
his ability, that his name was soon mentioned everywhere throughout
the land for the presidency. His modest home at Canton was filled
with people seeking his advice, and with politicians who were planning
events for the future.

There was a plethora of republican presidential timber in the coun-
try, but no name mentioned invoked the enthusiasm among the people
that JMcKinley's did. Thomas B. Reed, of Mame, ex-speaker of the
house, and one of the most prominent men in the party, not only because
of his ability, but because of the notoriety acqirired in his contest to
dominate the democratic minority in the house, was a candidate. Wil-
liam B. Allison, United States Senator from Iowa, and a man of wide
experience and great ability, had a following, and there were still those
who asked that John Sherman, the old Roman from Ohio, be given a
chance. Levi P. Morton, of New York, vice-president under Harrison,
and Russell A. Alger, of Michigan, were also in the lists.

The conditions at that time were unusual. Not only was the tarift'
fight on again in all its intensity, but the democrats and a portion of
the republicans had become imbued with the "silver craze" advocated
by some of the leaders of both parties in the west. The doctrine that
the people needed more money, and that more money meant higher prices
of commodities, was preached widely. Before any effort was made by
the Republicans to counteract this teaching, it had been spread all
through the west and south by means of books and pamphlets. The
silver mine owners wanted their silver coined, and their argument that
this government could coin silver as freely as it did gold, without
disturbing values, was a specious one, and caught the fancy of many
people.

"Times were hard" — an old story, and any measure that promised
relief was eagerly clutched at by those upon whom the burden of pov-
erty rested. William McKinley had been before the people, not as a

131

13^ Life of William McKinley

candidate for president, but as the ardent advocate of measures that
intelligent persons thought more of national prosperity than of partisan
politics. The quick-seeing people had heard and read of his plans for
redeeming the country and casting off its burden of distress, "Hard
Times," and this had brought the tide of public favor and endorsement.
For weeks before the convention the republican public had been shout-
ing McKinley, and in a tone that could not be ignored. The voice
and the force of the people pressed hard upon the convention. The
newspapers teemed with his praise, his face and record were constantly
being presented; buttons bearing his portrait, and mottoes that epito-
mized his principles were seen everywhere, in city, town and country, and
thousands who had been, theretofore, but little interested in politics
became enthusiastic champions of the man from Ohio.

It was evident before the convention that a battle would have to be
fought before any candidate was nominated. The "silver republicans,"
as they were called had determined to commit the party, if possible, to
the free coinage of silver at the ratio of i6 to i. With the democrats,
they had resurrected the cry of "the crime of '73," and were universally
condemning the repeal of the Sherman act, which stopped the purchase
of silver by the government.

The convention was held in St. Louis, Tuesday, June 16, 1896, the
gathering place being a huge auditorium, capable of seating many thou-
sands of people. Hon. Thomas Henry Carter, chairman of the repub-
lican national committee, called the convention to order about 12:30
o'clock.

For the first time in the history of national conventions, the opening
prayer was made by an Israelite, in the person of Rabbi Samuel Sale,
pastor of the Shaare Emeth congregation. His invocation was devout,
and, at its close, the secretary read the call issued by the national com-
inittee for the convention. Chairman Carter then presented the name
of Hon. Charles W. Fairbanks of Indiana as temporary chairman. No
voice was raised in opposition, and the tall, slender man, with close-
cropped beard and mustache, came forward and delivered an address
that was frequently interrupted by applause. It was an arraignment
of the democratic administration for its many shortcomings, and an
argument that the prosperity of the country at large could be secured
only by the adoption of the principles of the republican party. Sound
currency, protection, sympathy for Cuba, and the certainty that the can-
didates about to be named would be the next president and vice-presi-
dent of the United States, were the principal features of Chairman Fair-
banks' speech, which was received with many expressions of approval.
At its conclusion the necessary officials of the convention were ap-

Our Martyred President 133

pointed, the members of the various committees announced, and, after a
session of less than two hours, an adjournment was had to 10 o'clock
\Vednesda3^

Between the adjournment and the coming together on the morrow,
much effecti\'e work was done. While the sentiment of the delegates
was overwhelmingly in favor of "sound currency," or the single gold
standard, there was a diversity of opinion in many quarters as to
whether the word "gold" should be used in the platform. A consider-
able number thought the latter was sufficiently explicit without the
word, but the insistence of others compelled a yielding of the point:
it was decided that the all-potent word should appear. Since adjourn-
ment ]\Ir. Hanna has asserted that the gold plank was agreed upon by
him or his associates before the arrival of the delegates from the East,
who were popularly credited with the formulation of the clause in
question.

The convention reassembled at a quarter to eleven on Wednesday,
and was opened with prayer by Rev. Dr. W. G. Williams, after which
the real work began. The report of the committee on permanent organ-
ization presented the name of Senator J- N. Thurston, of Nebraska,
as chairman, made the secretaries, sergeant-at-arms and other temporary
officers permanent officers of the convention, and gave a list of vice-
presidents, consisting of one from each state.

Awaiting the report of the committee on credentials tlie C(in\'ention
adjourned until 2 o'clock, and at 3 that afternoon Chairman Thurston
called the body to order. Bishop Arnett of Ohio offered the opening
prayer and Mr. AI. B. Madden of Chicago presented to tlie chairman
a gavel made from timber of a house in which Abraham Lincoln once
lived. Another gavel, carved from the homestead of Henry Clay,
"The Father of Protection," w^as also presented.

The committee on credentials then presented majority and minority
reports, the former of which favored the seating of the Higgins dele-
gates and these at large from Delaware as against the Addicks dele-
gates, and the seating of the list of Texas delegates, which was headed
by John Grant. After a warm discussion the majority report was
adopted by the vote of 545/4 to 359 j/2- This vote was considered a test
one between McKinley and his opponents and removed all doubts of
the invincibility of the Ohio man.

The full committee on resolutions met at the Lindell Hotel in the
evening and went into secret session. The proposed platform was read
by paragraphs, the agreement being that each paragraph should be voted
on separately. There was unanimous accord upon the tariff plank and
the sugar plank was accepted. A strong declaration was formulated

134 ^^^^ ^^ William McKinley

for a protective duty on wools and woolens and a demand made for the
protection of American shipbuilding and the development of American
commerce.

When the financial plank was reached Senator Teller of Colorado
presented a minority report which declared in favor of the free and
unlimited coinage of silver at the ratio of i6 to i. Mr. Teller, with
deep emotion, declared that the time had come when, if the single gold
standard was adopted, he should be compelled to leave the party with
which he had been associated for thirty-five years. There was much
sympathy felt for this able leader, whose association with the republican
party had earned for him the respect of political foes as well as friends.
Mr. Cannon of Utah was hardly less agitated when he announced a
decision similar to that of Teller, and Mr. Dubois of Idaho declared
that, much as he regretted the step, he would follow Messrs. Teller and
Cannon. Then, after earnest argument, Mr. Hartman of Montana said
that he never would support a candidate upon the proposed platform.

The substitute of Senator Teller received ten votes, which included
the delegates from Colorado, California, Utah, Montana, Idaho, Wyom-
ing, Arizona, Nevada, North Carolina and New Mexico. The substi-
tute was defeated by forty-one votes. After further discussion, the
gold plank, as it appears in the platform, was adopted by a vote of
yeas, 40, nays 11, the member from Oklahoma having joined the silver
men.

The convention came together on Thursday morning, only five min-
utes late, with all of the delegates in their seats, and the galleries packed
to suffocation, many ladies being among the spectators. Rev. John R.
Scott of Florida, a negro, opened with a brief and appropriate prayer.

The first order of business was the reception of the report of the
committee on resolutions. Senator-elect Foraker of Ohio was cheered
as he advanced to the platform and said : "As chairman of the com-
mittee on resolutions, I have the honor to report as follows :"

He then read the platform in a clear, ringing voice and with dis-
tinct enunciation. He emphasized the endorsement of President Har-
rison, and was applauded, and when, in a loud voice and with impressive
manner, he declared : "The republican party is unreservedly for sound
money," the applause was greater than ever, it rising to a still more
enthusiastic pitch when the pledge to promote international agreement
for free coinage of silver was read. Mr. Foraker was compelled to
stop reading and the applause continued so long that the chairman
rapped repeatedly for order.

The demand for American control of the Hawaiian Islands was
warmly approved, but the conv^ntian remained mum over the proposed

Our Martyred President 135

building of the Nicaragua canal by the United States and the purchase
of the Danish Islands for a naval station. If any enthusiasm was felt
in that direction it did not manifest itself. But the sympathy of the
people found ardent expression when the Cuban paragraph was read,
dropping again to zero over the civil service plank. The negro dele-
gates applauded noisily the demand for a free ballot and the condemna-
tion of lynching.

It took twenty-five minutes for the reading of the platform, during
which the convention gave close attention, breaking out again into
cheers at the close. When the tumult had subsided, Mr. Foraker moved
the adoption of the report as the national platform for 1896.

As Mr. Foraker reached the closing paragraph of the report Senator
Teller left his place with the Colorado delegation and took his seat on
the platform. He was recognized by the chairman and sent to the sec-
retary's desk and had read the following minority report : "We, the
undersigned members of the committee on resolutions, being unable to
agree with that part of the majority report which treats of the subjects
of coinage and finance, respectfully submit the following paragraph as
a substitute therefor :

"The republican party favors the use of both gold and silver as
equal standard money, and pledges its power to secure the free, unre-
stricted and independent coinage of gold and silver at our mints at the
ratio of 16 part of silver to i of gold. '

Senator Teller then advanced to the front of the platform to
utter his "farewell." The universal respect felt for him was shown by
the cordial greeting of the twelve thousand people, who saw that the
distinguished gentleman was almost overcome with emotion. It may
be doubted whether there w^as one in that immense assem.blage who did
not feel a sincere sympathy for the man who was taking the most
painful step of his public career.

He asserted that we might as well have two flags in the nation, if
the present money system is to be maintained, for the reason that two
flags are not more important than this all-absorbing question of gold
and silver money. He declared that he was not actuated by the fact
that Colorado is a silver-producing state, but he had come to the earnest
conclusion, after twenty years of study, that bimetallism is the only
safe money doctrine for the United States and all other countries.

Senator Teller insisted that a protective tariff could not be main-
tained on a gold standard, and then, with uplifted hands, declared:
"When God Almighty made these two metals, He intended them for

use as monev."

The senator said that the years of study which he had devoted to

136 Life of William McKinley

this question had brought convictions to him wh"ich were binding upon
his conscience, and it was because he was an honest man that he could
not support the gold money plank. The declaration was received with
cheers and hisses, and moisture gathered in the eyes of the speaker as
he looked out over the sea of faces and felt that he had at last reached
the parting of the ways. Then the tears coursed down his cheeks and
his handkerchief went to his eyes. The sight caused a respectful husli
to fall over the convention, while more than one friend wept in silent
sympathy.

Recovering himself, Senator Teller declared that the best thoughts
of the world favored bimetallism, and it was advocated by the greatest
teachers of political economy in Europe.

"Do you suppose," he asked, "that we can take this step and leave
the party without distress? Take any methods you please to nominate
your man, but put him upon the right platform, and I v/ill support him.
1 was for free men, free speech, and a free government. I was with
the republican party when it was born. I have become accustomed to
abuse, but I have voted for every republican candidate since the founda-
tion of the party, and I have been in close communication with its dis-
tinguished men for forty years."

At this point. Senator Teller broke down again. The tears streamed
over his face and he v/as greatly distressed. In a broken voice he
added :

"But if I am to leave the republican party, I do not leave it in anger.
I believe that my doctrine is for the good of the people. I believe that
the republican party will see the error of its way, anJ, although I may
never be permitted again to address a republican national convention,
I shall live in the hope that before I die this great party will come to ?.
thorough understanding of the silver question and treat it solemnly and
with the keenest interest in support of all the people."

The vote to lay Senator Teller's motion on the table disclosed an
interesting state of facts. It was supported by seven friends in Ala-
bama, fifteen in California, his eight delegates of Colorado, two from
Florida, three from Georgia, the six from Idaho, and one from Illinois.
In addition, his plank received the following support : Kansas, four
votes; Michigan, one; Missouri, one; Montana, six; Nevada, six; South
Carolina, fourteen and one-half; South Dakota, two; Tennessee, one;
Utah, six ; Virginia, five ; Wyoming, six ; and in the Territories : Ari-
zona, six; New Mexico, three, and Oklahoma, one, making one hundred
and five and one-half votes in all. The vote for the majority report
was eight hundred and eighteen and one-half.

Senator Teller, who was still on the platform, asked permission

Our Martyred President 137

from the chairman to introduce Senator Cannon of Utah, who desired
to read a statement from the silver men. The manner of Senator Can-
non was defiant and quickly stirred up impatience. He declared he
would bow to the majority in the matter of votes, but would never bow
when a question of principle was at stake. He said they would with-
draw from the convention, and he predicted trouble in the future for
the republican party. This was greeted with hisses and urgent requests
for him to sit down. In the midst of the storm, the chairman turned to
Senator Cannon and shouted : "The republican party do not fear any
declaration."

This threw the convention into a tumult of enthusiasm. Men
sprang to their feet, swung flags and shouted at the top of their voices.
Senator Cannon calmly awaited the subsidence of the storm, when he
continued with his generalities, and read the list of free silver men who
would leave the convention. The names of the signers were greeted
with hisses, and some one in the rear called out, "Good-by, my lover,
good-by," as Senator Teller and his associates filed out of the hall,
marching down the main aisle. The whole convention was again on
its feet yelling, waving flags, hats and fans, while the band played pa-
triotic airs and the assemblage sang the chorus, "Three Cheers for the
Red, White and Blue."

The silver delegates who withdrew were Congressman Hartman, of
Montana; Senator Cannon, Congressman Allen and Delegate Thomas
Kearns, of Utah ; Senator Pettigrew, of South Dakota ; Delegate Cleve^
land Strother, of Nevada; the entire Idaho delegation of six, headed
by Senator Dubois; the wdiole Colorado delegation of eight, including
Senator Teller, the total number of bolters being twenty-one, including
four senators and two representatives.

Waiting until the excitement had subsided, the chairman announced
in deliberate fashion : "Gentlemen of the Convention, there seem to
be enough delegates left to do business. (Great cheering.) The chair
now asks tliat a gentleman from Montana who did not go out" — cheers
drowned the rest of the sentence, and pries were made for Lee Mantle,
who was asked to come to the platform, but declined.

On the call of states for nominations for the presidency, the first
response w^as from Iowa. R. M. Baldwin, of Council Bluffs, nominated
Senator W. B. Allison, in a glowing tribute to Senator Allison's worth
and services.

Senator Lodge, of Massachusetts, in a speech of characteristic elo-
quence, nominated Hon. Thomas B. Reed.

Hon. Chauncey M. Depew received a warm welcome as he marie
his way to the platform to nominate Governor Levi P, Morton, of
New York state, which he did in his usual felicitous style of speech.

138 Life of William McKinley

Then came the caU of Ohio. Amid intense interest and expectation
Governor Foraker went to tlie platform and when silence had been
obtained he said :

"Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Convention : It would be
exceedingly difficult, if not entirely impossible, to exaggerate the dis-
agreeable situation of the last four years. The grand aggregate of the
multitudinous bad results of a democratic national administration may
be summed up as one stupendous disaster. It has been a disaster, how-
ever, not without, at least, this one redeeming feature — that it has been
fair; nobody has escaped. (Loud laughter.) * * ^= *

'Tf we make no mistake here, the democratic party will go out of
power on the 4th day of March, 1897 (applause), to remain out of
power until God, in His infinite wisdom and mercy and goodness, shall
see fit once more to chastise His people. (Loud laughter and applause.)

"So far we have not made any mistake. We have adopted a plat-
form which, notwithstanding the scene witnessed in this hall this morn-
ing, meets the demands and expectations of the American people.

"It remains for us now, as the last crowning act of our work, to
meet again that same expectation in the nomination of our candidates.
What is that expectation? What is it that the people want? They
want as their candidate something more than 'a good business man'
(an allusion to Mr. Depew's characterization of Governor Morton).
They want something more than a popular leader. They want some-
thing more than a wise and patriotic statesman. They want a man
who embodies in himself not only all these essential qualifications, but
those, in addition, which, in the highest possible degree, typify in name,
in character, in record, in ambition, in purpose, the exact opposite of
all that is signified and represented by that free-trade, deficit-making,
bond-issuing, labor-assassinating, democratic administration. (Cheers.)
I stand here to present to this convention such a man. His name is
William McKinley."

At this point pandemonium was let loose, and the convention gave
up to unrestrained yelling, cheering, horn-blowing, whistling, cat-call-
ing and all the other devices common to such occasions.

After at least twelve minutes of this kind of proceeding the chair
began to rap for a restoration of order, but without avail.

Senator-elect Foraker stood during all this wild scene smiling his
approval. ]\Ir. Hepburn, of Iowa, had in the meantime been called to
the chair by Senator Thurston, but just when he had nearly restored
order, Mrs. H. W. R. Strong, of California, who had presented some
of the plumes that were waving in honor of Ohio's choice, made her

Our Martyred President 139

appearance on the floor, waving one of them, and another uncontrollable
outbreak occurred. During the interval of confusion, a three-quarter
face, life-size sculptured bust of McKinley was presented to Mr. For-
aker by the republican club of the University of Chicago. The por-
trait was in a mahogany frame, decorated with red, white and blue rib-
bons, and with a bow of maroon-colored ribbons forming the colors
of the university. The portrait was the work of Harris Hirsch, and
was presented by Dr. Lisston H. Montgomery, of Chicago, with a let-
ter signed by H. L. Ickes, president of the club. It was accepted by
Senator-elect Foraker in dumb show.

After twenty-five minutes of incessant turmoil Mr. Foraker was
allowed to resume his speech.

He spoke of the great champions of republicanism in the past, eulo-
gizing Mr. Claine particularly, and continued :

*'But, greatest of all, measured by present requirements, is the
leader of the house of representatives, the author of the McKinley bill,
which gave to labor its richest awards. No other name so completel>-
meets the requirements of the occasion, and no other name so absolutely
commands all hearts. The shafts of envy and malice and slander and
libel and detraction that have been aimed at him lie broken and harmless
at his feet. The quiver is empty, and he is untouched. That is be-
cause tlie people know him, trust him, believe him, and will not permit
any human power to disparage him unjustly in their estimation.

"They know that he is an American of Americans. They know
that he is just and able and brave, and they want him for president of
the United States. (Applause.) They have already shown it — not in
this or that state, nor in this or that section, but in all the states and in
all the sections from ocean to ocean, and from the Gulf to the Lakes.
They expect of you to give them a chance to vote for him. It is our
duty to do it. If we discharge that duty we will give joy to their hearts,
enthusiasm to their souls and triumphant victory to our cause. (Ap-
plause.) And he, in turn, will give us an administration under which
the country will enter on a new era of prosperity at home and of glory
and honor abroad, by all these tokens of the present and all these prom-
ises of the future. In the name of the forty-six delegates of Ohio, I
submit his claim to your consideration." (More applause.)

The high-water mark of enthusiasm was reached when Senator
Thurston rose to second the nomination of McKinley, which he did in
eloquent and forceful words.

In the midst of cries of "vote," Governor Hastings placed in nom-
ination Matthew Stanley Quay, at the conclusion of which, amid a
profound hush, the convention began balloting for a nominee for presi-
dent of the United States.

140 Life of William McKinley

Alabama led off with i for Morton and 19 for McKinley, Arkansas
and California following with a solid vote for McKinley. Connecticut
gave 5 for Reed and 7 for McKinley; Delaware, its full vote for Mc-
Kinley; Florida, 8 for McKinley; Georgia, 2 for Reed, 2 for Quay,
and 22 for McKinley.

When all of the states had been called, the chairman stated, before
the announcement of the result, that application had been made to him
for recognition by delegates of the defeated candidates to make a cer-
tain motion. He thought it the fairest way to recognize them in the
order in which the nominations had been made. He then announced
that William McKinley had received 661^ votes.

Before the chairman could get any further, the enthusiasm of the
convention broke all bounds. Every man was on his feet, shouting,
hurrahing, cheering, swinging hats and canes in the air, waving flags
and banners and the pampas plumes of California, while through the
Niagara-like rush and roar were caught the notes of "My Country, 'Tis
of Thee," as the band played with might and main in its attempt to gain
the mastery of the cyclone. The women, if possible, were more frantic
than the men. Parasols, fans, opera-glasses, gloves — anything, every-
thing— were compelled to help in the magnificent burst of enthusiasm
which swept over and submerged all alike, until it looked as if order
could never again be evolved from the swirling pandemonium.

Finally, after a long, long time, the chairman gained a chance to
complete the announcement of the vote. It was : Thomas B. Reed,
84I ; Senator Quay, 61^; Levi P. Morton, 58; Senator Allison, 35^,
and Don Cameron, i.

Senator Lodge, rising in his delegation, in a forceful speech moved
to make the nomination of Mr. McKinley unanimous. Mr. Hastings,
of Pennsylvania, wdio had nominated Quay, seconded the motion, as did
Thomas C. Piatt on behalf of New York, Mr. Henderson of Iowa, and
J. Madison Vance of Louisiana. In answer to loud calls Mr. Depew
mounted his chair in the back of the room, where the rays of the sun
beamed on his countenance, which itself was beaming with good humor,
and delivered a short and characteristically humorous speech.

The chair then put the question, "Shall the nomination be made
unanimous?" and by a rising vote it was so ordered, and the chair
announced that Mr. William McKin.ley of Ohio was the candidate of
the republican party for president of the United States.

The convention completed its work by the nomination of Garrett
A. Hobart, of New Jersey, for the office of vice-president.

CHAPTER XL

First Presidential Campaign.

Governor McKinley was formally apprised of his nomination for the
presidency June 29 by the committee appointed by the convention. Gov-
ernor McKinley received the committee on the veranda of his home.
The streets about the house were filled with people, men, women and
children, who listened with great interest to the proceedings. Senator
Thurston, of Nebraska, speaking for the committee, informed the gov-
ernor of the honor the convention had conferred upon him, and said :

"We respectfully request your acceptance of this nomination and
your approval of the declaration of the principles adopted by the con-
vention. We assure you that you are the unanimous choice of a united
party, and your candidacy will be immediately accepted by the country
as an absolute guarantee of the republican success.

"Your nomination has been made in obedience to popular demand,
whose universality and spontaneity attest the affection and confidence
of the plain people of the United States. By common consent you are
their champion. Their mighty uprising in your behalf emphasizes the
sincerity of their conversion to the cardinal principles of protection and
reciprocity as best exemplified in that splendid congressional act which
bears your name. * * *

"But your nomination means more than the indorsement of a pro-
tective tariff, of reciprocity, of sound money, and of honest finance, for
all of which you have so steadfastly stood. It means an endorsement
of your heroic youth, your faithful years of arduous public services,
your sterling patriotism, your stalwart Americanism, your Christian
j character, and the purity, fidelity and simplicity of your private life.
L • In all these things you are the typical American ; for all of these things
' you are the chosen leader of the people. God give you strength so to
bear the honor and meet the duties of that great ofiice for which you
are now nominated, and to which you will be elected, that your admin-
istration will enhance the dignity and power and glory of this republic
and secure the safety, welfare and happiness of its liberty-loving people."

In his reply to Senator Thurston, Governor McKinley said :

"To be selected as their presidential candidate by a great party

141

t4^ Life of William McKinley -

convention, representing so vast a number of the people of the United
States is a most distinguished honor, for which I would not conceal my
high appreciation, although deeply sensible of the great responsibilities
of the trust, and my inability to bear them without the generous and
constant support of my fellow countrymen. Great as is the honor con-
ferred, equally arduous and important is the duty imposed, and in
accepting the one I assume the other, relying upon the patriotic devo-
tion of the people to the best interests of our beloved country, and the
sustaining care and aid of Him without whose support all we do is

empty and vain.

"Should the people ratify the choice of the great convention for
which you speak, my only aim will be to promote the public good,
which in America is always the good of the greatest number, the
honor of our country, and the welfare of the people."

He then discussed the questions to be settled by the election, and
concluded as follows:

"The platform adopted by the republican national convention has
received my careful consideration, and has my unqualified approval. It
is a matter of gratification to me, as I am sure it must be to you and
republicans everywhere, and to all our people, that the expressions of
its declarations of principles are so direct, clear and emphatic. They
are too plain and positive to leave any chance for doubt or question
as to their purport and meaning. But you will not expect me to dis-
cuss its provisions at length, or in detail at this time. It will, how-
ever, be my duty and pleasure, at some future day, to make to you, and
through you to the great party you represent, a more formal accept-
ance of the nomination tendered me.

"No one could be more profoundly grateful than I for the mani-
festation of public confidence of which you have so eloquently spoken.
It shall be my aim to attest this appreciation by an unsparing devotion
to what I esteem the best interests of the people, and in this work I ask
the counsel and support of you, gentlemen, and of every other friend
of the country. The generous expressions with which you, sir, convey
the official notice of my nomination are highly appreciated, and as fully
reciprocated, and I thank you, and your associates of the notification'
committee, and the great party and convention at whose instance ;:^ou
come, for the high and exceptional distinction bestowed upon me."

His letter of acceptance which followed some weeks later was a mas-
terly document, and clearly indicated the study he had given to all the
great questions then agitating the minds of the people.

Though not in accordance with the forms and ceremonies, the cam-
paign was already opened. For months the people had been discussing

Our Martyred President I43

the silver question, and 16 to i was lieard on every side. The tariff
had seemingly disappeared as an issue, and everybody was interested
in the theory — not new, but freshly agitated — that all the people needed
to insure prosperity was more money per capita.

Sentiment was rapidly crystallizing when the democratic national
convention was held. The populists had already held their convention
and nominated William Jennings Bryan, of Nebraska, on a platform
demanding free coinage of silver at the ratio of 16 to i, and other
things too numerous to mention. - The silver craze had spread through
the rank and file of the democratic party so fully that it was seen that
the national convention would be committed to the doctrine. Many of
the eastern democrats protested against such action, and the forcing it
upon the convention resulted in a split, the bolters taking the name
of "Gold Democrats," and putting a national ticket in the field. The
democratic national convention was held in Chicago, in the Coliseum.
Mr. Bryan came to the convention as a delegate, and a pronounced cham-
pion of the silver theory. He was still' a democrat, and had not accepted
the nomination tendered him by the populists. Neither had he been
regarded as a prominent candidate for the presidency. He was young,
and there were wheel-horses in the party to be rewarded. "Silver
Dick," as the Hon. Richard P. Bland, of Missouri, was called, because
of his long defense of silver in the house of representatives as a money
metal, was one of the most formidable candidates, and Governor Horace
Boies, who had succeeded in winning the republican state of Iowa for
the democrats, also had a large following. But Mr. Bryan had already
achieved fame as an- orator, and during the convention he took the plat-
form and made a most brilliant speech in favor of the free coinage of
silver. The address so electrified the convention that delegation after
delegation voted for Mr. Bryan when the balloting began, and before
the roll call was finished it was seen that he was nominated.

Following the nomination of Mr. Bryan began a campaign the like
of which had perhaps never been seen in any country. It was full of
spectacular features, and there was more eloquence to the square inch
than had ever been known before. Everybody turned speech-maker,
and few places were regarded as too sacred, and few moments as im-
proper, in which to discuss the momentous questions. On the streets,
in railway cars, on steamboats, in hotels, stores, factories, and at the
family board the great question was threshed out. The excitement
was intense. On both sides the people believed a crisis had arrived.
The republicans declared the election of Mr, Bryan meant repudiation
of obligations, ruin and national dishonor. The democrats retorted
that there could be no repudiation in sticking to the money of the con-

144 Life of William McKinley

stitution and the argument was so apparently conclusive that the repub-
licans became alarmed. It was found that the silver belief was fully
grounded— the people of the great West seemed impressed with the
idea that more money would make times better, and more money could
easily be coined. The government had practically ceased under the
Cleveland administration to purchase silver bullion. The mines of Col-
orado, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Montana, and other sections, could
produce the metal in abundance, and for the government to coin it into
money would produce the supply of money necessary to relieve the
stringency.

Such arguments appealed to those who felt the pinch of poverty,
and the republicans found it necessary to send their best and most elo-
quent speakers into the field, in order to counteract the influence of the
silver advocates. Printing presses throughout the land were set to
work to print pamphlets and tracts to explode the democratic doctrine,
and great discs of base metal were cast to show how much, silver at the
prevailing price would have to go into a dollar, to make it the equivalent
of a gold dollar. The bullion value of the silver in a dollar was at that
time about 50 cents, and the object lesson had its effect upon certain
minds.

As indicative of the arguments used by the leading orators during
the campaign, the following examples are given :

Congressman Joseph C. Sibley, of Pennsylvania, one of the promi-
nent Eastern men who supported the doctrine of free coinage of silver,
said in one of his speeches :

"Silver is the only stable standard of values, maintaining at all times
its parity with every article of production except gold. The ounce of
silver, degraded by infamous legislation from its normal mintage value
of 1.2929 an ounce to about 60 cents, has kept its parity with the ton of
pig iron, the pound of nails, and all the products of our iron mills.
The ounce of silver has maintained its parity with the barrel of petro-
leum, with granite blocks, with kiln-burnt bricks. With lumber grow-
ing scarcer year by year it still keeps its parity. It is at parity with
the ton of coal; with the mower, reaper, thresher, the grain drill, the
hoe, and the spade. Silver at 1.2929 and beef at 7 cents per pound in
the farmer's field has kept its parity, and the ounce of silver at 60 cents
buys today beef at 2 cents per pound on foot. The pound of cotton
and the ounce of silver have never lost their level. No surer has the
sun indicated on the dial the hour of the day than has the ounce of
silver shown the value of the pound of cotton. As surely as the moon
has given high or low tide, just so surely has the ounce of silver given
the high and low tide prices of wheat. The ounce of silver has main-

UNITED STATES SENATOR WILLIAM E. MASON.

Our Martyred President i^j.^

tained its parity with your railway dividends, with the earnings in youi
shops and factories, in all departments of effort.

"If parity with gold is demanded, and the secretary of the treasury
construes the law to mean whenever demanded to pay gold, then let us
maintain the parity by reducing the number of grains in the gold dollar
from 23.22 grains pure gold to 15 grains, or to such number of grains
as will keep it at parity. While we may wrong by so doing the creditor
class, through the increased value of the products of human industry.
we must remember tliat for every one creditor there are a thousand
debtors ; and we should remember that tlie aim of the government is the
greatest good to the greatest number, and also the minimum amount of
evil. But no such drastic measure is necessary. Parity may be main-
tained and every declaration of governm.ental policy fully met by accept-
ing for all dues, public and private, including duties upon imports, silver
and paper issues of the nation of ever}^ description whatsoever.

"In all the gold-standard nations destitution and misery prevail.
With great standing armies in Europe outbreaks are not of frequent
occurrence, and yet one rarely peruses his paper without reading of
these outbreaks. In Nebraska and Kansas, the land of wheat and corn,
we read of starving households; even in Ohio appeals are sent out for
the relief of thousands of starving miners, and yet men have the temer-
ity to tell us that the evils arise from overproduction.

"Men tell us that there is an overproduction of silver, and that its
price had diminished in comparison with gold because of its great rela-
tive increase. Such statements are not only misleading, but absolutely
false. Figures show that in 1600 we produced 27 tons of silver to i
ton of gold; in 1700, 34 tons of silver to i ton of gold; in 1800, t^2
tons of silver to i ton of gold; in 1848, 31 tons of silver to i ton of
gold; while in 1880 the production of silver had declined until we pro-
duced 18 tons of silver to i ton of gold ; and in 1890 but 18 tons of silver
to I ton of gold ; and that, instead of the ratio of coinage being increased
above 16 to i. if relative production of the two metals is to determine
the ratio, then the ratio should have been diminished rather than
increased, and confirms the fact that merely tlie denial of mintage upon
terms of equality with gold is responsible for all depreciation in the value
of silver bullion.

"All the silver in the world today can be put in a room sixty-six feet
in each dimension, and all the gold can be melted into a cube of t8 or
20 feet. There are today less than twenty-five millions of bar silver in
all Europe. Mr. St. John, the eminent banker of New York, has stated
that there was not over five millions of silver that could be made avail-
able to send to our mints. Begin to coin silver to the full capacity of

146 Life of William McKinley

our mintS; and we would have to coin it for twenty years before giving
to each inhabitant a per capita circulation that France, the most pros-
perous nation in the world today, possesses.

"The struggle today is between the debtor and creditor classes.
With one-half the world's money of final account destroyed, the creditor
can demand twice as much of the product of your field, your shop, and
your enterprise and labor for his dues. In this struggle between debtor
and creditor the latter has taken undue advantage and by legislation
doubled and trebled the volume of debt. For example, suppose you
had given a note to your neighbor promising to pay, one year after date,
1,500 bushels of wheat. You thresh the grain, measure it into the bin,
and notify your creditor that the wheat is at his disposal. He goes to
the granary, sacks the wheat, and then brings up your notes and states,
'I have taken 500 bushels, which I have endorsed on your note. I will
call on you for the balance when next year's crop is harvested.' You
say : 'Why did you not take all the wheat and let me make full pay-
ment ?' The note-holder answers : T did take all the wheat, and there
were only 500 bushels in the bin instead of 1,500.'

You fail to understand how that can be possible. You know that
you threshed out and measured into that bin 1,500 bushels of wheat.
You go to the granary and find that it is true. No wheat is there, but
there appears to be an enormous lot of wheat upon those wagons for 500
bushels, and you ask the note-holder: 'Who measured this wheat? and
let me see how you measured it.' You see something in the form of a
measure about as large as a washtub, and you ask him what that is. He
tells you that is the half -bushel measure with which he measured your
wheat ; but you reply : 'My dear sir, that holds more than half a bushel ;
that measure will hold six pecks :' He answers : 'Correct, it does hold
six pecks, but it now takes twelve pecks to make a bushel, instead of
four pecks. Together with other friends who had wheat coming to
us we went before the committee on coinage, weights and measures and
secured the passage of a legislative enactment that it should require
twelve pecks instead of four pecks to make a bushel. We have secured
this legislation for the proper protection of the holders of wheat obliga-
tions, for our own security, and for fear that we should became timid
and lose confidence in your ability to pay unless we changed the standard
of measure.' But you reply: 'Sir, we who have obligations maturing,
contracts long standing, have never asked or consented to the enactment
of such legislation. Our representatives in congress never permitted
us to understand that any such legislation was pending.' He replies:
'Sir, you might have known it had you desired to do so, or had you
kept yourself as well posted in legislative affairs as do the holders of

Our Martyred President 147

obligations calling for products of the soil for payment. We have our
representatives in congress. We reward them for their fidelity to our
interests; we punish them for fidelity to yours.'

"This, in my judgment, is not a far-fetched illustration, but depicts
the exact condition against which production today protests. The debt-
or's obligation, true, does not call for wh.eat in specific terms. It calls
for dollars, but by legislation we have made the dollar three times as
large in purchasing power or in measuring values as it was before. \Yc
talk about gold being the only money of intrinsic value, and attempt to
befog and mystify the masses by telling them that it has intrinsic value,
w^hen its value is merely the artificial product of legislation.

"Enact a law, to be rigidly enforced, providing that no meat of anv
kind, whether 'fish, flesh or fowl,' except mutton, shall be used for food.
What will be the intrinsic value of your beef cattle, of your swine, your
poultry, and your fish tomorrow? The mutton-headed monometallists
would tell you that the great increase in the value of mutton was be-
cause of its intrinsic worth. Let this nation and the commercial nations
of the globe enact a law tomorrow, that neither cotton, nor silk, nor
fabric should be used for clothing or covering, forbid the factories of
the w^orld to spin or weave aught but wool, and what will be the intrinsic
value of cotton or silk thereafter? Wool will be king; its value will bo
enhanced, but cotton, hemp, and silk will be as valueless as weeds or as
gossamer webs.

"With the mints open to free and unlimited coinage of both gold
and silver there has never been a moment when silver has not maintained
its parity with gold, and a ratio of 16 to i commanded a premium
of more than 3 per cent over gold. And if, by some fortunate dis-
coveries to-morrow, gold should be found in great quantities sufficient
to lessen the income of the annuitant, the bondholding, or the fixed-
income class, there would arise a demand for the demonetization of
gold and the establishment of the pearl, ruby, or diamond standard of
values. Whatever standard can bring to grasping hands and greedy
hearts the most of the toil, the sweat, and unrequited efforts of his
fellowman, this standard wdll be demanded by the represe'itatives of
greed, and must be resisted by those who represent humanity and Chris-
tianity."

United States Senator Julius C. Burrows, of Michigan, in replying
to the free coinage argument, said :

"Coin silver dollars at the ratio of 16 to i or 20 to i and you have
a dollar intrinsically worth less than the gold dollar, and coin such a
dollar as that — permit the owners of silver bullion to bring to the mints
of the United States, and have manufactured into dollars, a certain num-

148 Life of William McKinley

ber of grains, worth In bullion much less than after they are coined, is a
proposition to which 1 cannot give my assent.

"But it has been stated and repeatedly asserted that the present silver
dollar is the 'dollar of the fathers.' That statement is not true. It is not
the 'dollar of the fathers,' and the fathers if living would repudiate such
an assumption as a reflection upon their integrity and sagacity. The
silver dollar of the fathers was intended to be and was in fact practically
equal to the gold dollar in intrinsic value.

"This contest for the free coinage of silver began in 1874, and it
has been prosecuted with unceasing vigor ever since. Why ? Up to that
time the silver dollar was worth more, intrinsically, than the gold dollar,
being worth in 1873 $1.03 as compared with gold.

"Up to that time the coinage of silver dollars in this country had
been very limited. One would think from the tenor of this discussion
that all at once a great outrage had been perpetrated upon silver, that it
had been stricken from our monetary system at a blow, by the force of
law, when the fact is that from 1793 to 1805, a period of twelve years,
we coined but 1,439,517 silver dollars. From 1806 to 1836, a period of
thirty years, we did not coin a single silver dollar. From 1836 to 1873,
a period of thirty-seven years, we coined only 6,606,321 silver dollars.
In eighty years we only coined a total of 8,045,838 silver dollars. So
long as silver remained more valuable than gold there was iTo clamor
for the free coinage of silver, but in 1878, when resumption was an
assured fact, and the people had decreed that they would keep faith V'/ith
their creditors and pay their unredeemed promises, then the champions
of cheap money turned their attention to silver, finding it had declined in
value from $1.03 in 1873 to $0.89 in 1878.

"The battle is now renewed under the plea of bimetallism, and the
advocates of the free coinage of silver seek to delude the people by
asserting that they are in favor of bimetallism while its opponents are
not. We have bimetallism to-day.

"The free and unlimited coinage of silver at any of the ratios named
will destroy bimetallism and will reduce th.is country to a single stand-
ard, that of silver, and that depreciated, and I am suspicious that for this
very reason some gentlemen are anxious for its triumph. The opening
of the mints of the United States to the unrestricted minting: for Individ-
uals of silver into legal dollars at any ratio to gold less than the com-
mercial value of both metals, under the pretense of aiding the cause of
bimetallism or for the purpose of establishing or maintaining bimetal-
lism in the United States, is simply playing upon the sentiment and
credulity of the American people.

Mr. Bryan toured the country during the campaign, and spoke in all

ABRAHAM LINCOLN
Assassinated in 1&65

Ouv Martyred President 149

sections of the country. He went Into the eastern states, where the
opponents of the free silver doctrine were strongest and made numerous
speeches, but did the most of his work in the south and west. His fame
as an orator drew thousands to hear him, and under the s])ell of his
eloquence millions were brought to believe with him. When the cam-
l)aign was well under way, and the Republican leaders had in a meas-
ure checked the spread of the free silver doctrine, they put forward
again the doctrine of a protective tariff, and declared it to be the real
issue before the people, and its maintenance necessary to the renewed
prosperity of the nation.

Governor McKinley remained at his home in Canton during the
exciting summer of 1896 and there received the homage of hundreds
of thousands of his fellow citizens. "People of all ages and classes
visited him and day after day he made speeches to those who asked
for light. He exhibited his wonderful familiarity with the concerns
of the people, by pointed remarks touching the welfare of every interest
that sought his advice, and proved that the people had made no mis-
take in their estimate of him.

The result of the election was. McKinley, 7,061,142 votes; Bryan,
6,460,677. In the electoral college J^IcKinley had 271 votes and Bryan
176.

Senator Hanna, who had managed the campaign, gave the follow-
ing description of it in a speech before the Union Club at Cleveland :

"Mr. Toastmaster and Gentlemen of the Union Club — I have a
great feeling of relief tonight. Such a feeling of relief and jcn' as
I never had before, and I never was so happy as I am tonight. (Cries
of "so are we," and applause.) My friends, tliis comes very near
to being an anniversary. About two years ago — not quite that long
— I began my work of devotion and love to our chief. Two years
ago I took from him my inspiration. When he laid upon me that
confidence which he left and said to me, ']\Iy friend, I trust you with
mv future,' he also said, 'Mark, there are some thino-s I will not do
to be president of the United States (applause and cheers), and I
leave my honor in your hands.' And from that day, nearly two years
ago, began this campaign.

"It was rather quiet at first (laughter), what the boys are likely
to call 'a still hunt,' but it is true that it had its birthday nearly two
years ago today. I embarked upon that duty with a full heart for
a man whom I loved because I had learned to respect and honor him.
It was a mission of love inspired by that nol)le character which has
no peer in the world. (Tremendous applause). I will not weary you
with an account of details of the early stages of tliat campaign. I

150 Life of William Mckiniv.-^

called to aid men who had known the effect of Maj. McKinley's mag-
netism and who loved and admired him even as I did, and the terri-
tory in which I fonnd them was not bonnded by Ohio, but reached from
the Atlantic to the Pacific. (Applause.) Scores and hundreds of
men who loved him as I did rallied with McKinley as the word on
their lips and their country their prayer. (Applause and cries of 'good,
good.') The next epoch was that wonderful convention at St. Louis,
where McKinley received 661 votes. I believe those figures are right.
You all read of its marvelous scenes. When I took that charge of
McKinley's honor I swore to my Maker that I would return it unsul-
lied. (Applause and cheers). And when I returned from that mem-
orable convention, proud and satisfied with the work his friends had
done, I went to Canton and laid my report at the feet of my chieftain,
and I said to him, 'McKinley, I have not forgotten the trust and I
bring it back without a blot and not a single promise to redeem.' I
think I have a right to feel proud of that (cheers and applause) because
in the succession of the administration from Lincoln's time to the pres-
ent era no man ever enjoyed that privilege before. (Tremendous ap-
plause.)

"Then began the battle royal. The Chicago convention flung forth
an edict which shackled the nation and almost prostrated the country.
Following that came that grand wave of inspiration from McKinley.
His name and all he stood for was the battle cry from that time on.
Never before was such a battle waged. It was against an unknown,
unseen enemy, which faced us under cover on every side, but before
us was McKinley's name, and every eye was fixed on it, and every
heart was bound to it as to a guiding star. (Tremendous applause.)

"There were dark days. There were days when even the best men
in the country lost faith in its government. And why? Because, as
I said, the enemy was an unseen one, and the blows it was striking
were blows at the very foundations of this government. And they did
not know the inner workings of our part of the campaign. When I
left New York to come to Cleveland to vote for my friend William
McKinley (applause and cheers), I looked out of the car window in
the early dawn and I saw the sun rise, and that sentiment of Garfield's
(applause and cheers) came to me, 'God reigns' (tremendous cheer-
ing), and on the following day I was reminded of that sentiment of
friend Handy here, that a rainbow spanned the continent. I cast my
vote, and then I hied me asfain to Canton and I said to its foremost
citizen : 'Governor, that honor and that escutcheon which you con-
fided to me are still untarnished. You haven't a promise to redeem,'
(Cheers for several moments.)

Our Martyred President 151

"And now I rejoice with you all that the great campaign has ended
in glory and in peace. I can't explain to you what impelled me to
enter on this labor, leaving all my other interests here at home, except
to say that it was my love for this great man. I had been with him
in the conventions of '84, '88 and '92, and I knew of their trials and
their temptations, and it was then that I learned to know the heart
and character of William McKinley. (Applause.) It was then tliat
he brushed aside all except the future and said: 'I will not stultify
my character for any reward on earth !' "

CHAPTER XII.

President of the United States.

William McKiiiley was inaugurated president of the United States
March 4, 1897. His inaugural address, like all of his previous public
utterances, was dignified, clear and exhaustive. He pointed out the
wants of the country, and pledged himself to meet them as far as pos-
sible. His cabinet was composed of the following eminent men :

Secretary of State — Hon. John Sherman, of Ohio.
Secretary of the Treasury — Hon. Lyman J. Gage, of Illinois.
Secretary of War — Hon. Russell A. Alger, of Michigan.
Secretary of the Interior — Hon. Cornelius N. Bliss, of New York.
Secretary of the Navy — Hon. John D. Long, of Massachusetts.
Postmaster General — Hon. James A. Gary, of Maryland.
Attorney General — Hon. Joseph McKenna, of California.

Secretary Sherman resigned in 1897, on account of ill-health, and
Judge William R. Day, of Ohio, an old friend of the president's, was
appointed to succeed him. Judge Day subsequently resigned to become
head of the peace commission appointed to arrange for the termination
of the Spanish-American war, and Hon. John Hay, formerly minis-
ter to England, succeeded him. Judge McKenna, attorney general,
also resigned in 1897, and Hon. John W. Griggs was appointed bis
successor. In 1898 Postmaster General Gary resigned and Hon. Charles
Emory Smith, of Pennsylvania, became his successor. Russell A. Alger,
secretary of war, tendered his resignation in 1899 and Hon. Elihu
Root, of New York, succeeded him.

More American history was made during President IMcKinley's
first term of office than in any preceding administration since the day
the martyred Lincoln ceased his work.

In the light of the present, to undertake to pronounce upon the
permanent character of all the acts of the administration would be to
assume superior wisdom. But if the voice of the people is to be relied
upon as the voice of God, then, assuredly President McKinley was
wise beyond ordinary men. for the people promptly and decisively,
when the time came, sanctioned his acts. The Spanish war and its
results was the main feature of his first year's work. It grew out

158

Our Martyred President 153

of the oppression of the people of Cuba l)y Spain, The Cubans had
been for years in arms against the Spaniards, and the people were worn
out with the struggle. Constantly they appealed to the people of the
United States to aid them in their struggle, and the people — not the
government — responded. Spain took offense at this and urged the gov-
ernment of the United States to prevent munitions of war and other
supplies being supplied to the Cubans. The Spaniards were absolutely
unable to crush the independent spirit of the Cubans. Finally, in 1897,
when the island was a scene of awful desolation, the sufferings of Amer-
ican citizens in Cuba became so great that congress at a special ses-
sion, appropriated $50,000 for their relief. Here was further cause for
complaint on the part of Spain. War grew out of the situation, but
as the matter will be fully treated of elsewhere it will not be further
alluded to here. The passage of the "sound money" law, placing the
country on a gold basis and in line with the other leading nations of
the earth, was accomplished and many other things, which may be
best told briefly in the words of Senator Hanna in his Union Club
speecli, in which he said :

"President McKinley's administration brought about a more prompt
readjustment of the tariff, to accord with the views of the party which
elected him to office, than any preceding administration, and in this
case it was accomplished under peculiarly embarrassing and difficult
conditions, by reason of the well known fact that his own party did
not have a clear majority in one branch of congress — the senate. Presi-
dent McKinley was inaugurated on March 4, 1897, ^"d immediately
called congress to meet in special session on March 15. In his mes-
sage to that congress he called attention to the excessive importations
and the lack of revenues, and said : 'Congress should promptly cor-
rect the existing conditions. Ample revenues must be supplied, not
only for the ordinary expenses of tlte government, but for the prompt
payment of liberal pensions and the liquidation of the principal and
interest of the public debt. In raising revenues, duties should be levied
upon foreign products so as to preserve the home market so far as
possible to our own producers ; to revive and increase manufactures ;
to relieve and encourage agriculture; to increase our domestic and for-
eign commerce; to aid and develop mining and building, and to ren-
der to labor in every field the useful occupation, the liberal wages and
the adequate rewards to which skill and industry are justly entitled.
The necessity of a tariff law which shall provide ample revenue need
not be further urged. The imperative demand of the hoiu- is the prompt
enactment of such a measure, and to this object I earnestly recommend
that congress sh.all make every endeavor,'

154 Life of William Mc Kinky

"This recommendation was promptly complied with. Congress met
on March 15, and on that day a taritT bill was introduced in the house;
on March 19 it was reported from the committee on ways and means;
the debate began on March 22, and on March 31 the bill passed the
republican house and was sent to the senate, which, after making some
amendments, passed the measure on July 7.

"The bill was then sent to the conference committee and became
a law on July 24, 143 days from the date of President McKinley's
inauguration. This was less time than was occupied in the enactment
of any tariff legislation since the days of Washington, whose first tariff
measure consumed about two months, being, of course, very brief.
Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, J. O. Adams, Jackson, William
H. Harrison, Polk, Pierce, Buchanan, Lincoln, Grant, x-Vrthur, Ben-
jamin Harrison and Grover Cleveland all signed tariff bills, but none
of them became laws in so short a time as did the Dingley law. Cleve-
land's second term, with his own party in control of both branches of
congress, did not witness the completion of its tariff measure until
nearly eighteen months after his inauguration.

"Regarding the war with Spain and its results, the facts are so
well known as to need little discussion in detail. No war of such results
was ever waged with so little loss of life. In the campaign which re-
sulted in the rescue of Cuba from her oppressors and in the addition of
Porto Rico to the territory of the United States, fewer lives were lost
upon the battlefield than were lost in the United States during the
peaceful celebration of the Fourth of July, 1899.

"In like manner the financial record of the administration may
be best described by a quotation from the president's special message
to congress on July 24, 1897:

" 'Nothing was settled more clearly at the late national election
than the determination upon the part of the people to keep their cur-
rency stable in value and equal to that of the most advanced nations
of the world.

" The soundness of our currency is nowhere questioned. No loss
can occur to its holders. It is the system which should be simplified
and strengthened, keeping our money just as good as it is now with
less expense to the government and the people.

" 'The sentiment of the country is strongly in favor of early action
by congress in this direction, to revise our currency laws and remove
them from partisan contention. A notable assembly of business men
with delegates from twenty-nine states and territories was held at Indi-
anapolis in January of this year. The financial situation commanded
their earnest attention and, after a two-day session, the convention
recommend to congress the appointment of a monetary commission.

Our Martyred President 155

"I commend this report to the consideration of congress. The
authors of the report recommend a commission 'to make a thorough
investigation of the monetary affairs and needs of this country in all
relations and aspects, and to make proper suggestions as to any evils
found to exist and the remedies therefor.

" 'This subject should receive the attention of congress at its spe-
cial session. It ought not to be postponed until the regular session.

" 'I, therefore, urgently recommend that a special commission be
created, non-partisan in its character, to be composed of well informed
citizens of different parties, who will command the confidence of con-
gress and the country because of their special fitness for the work,
whose duty it shall be to make recommendations of whatever changes in
our present banking and currency laws may be found necessary and expe-
dient, and to report their conclusions on or before the first day of Novem-
ber next, in order that the same may be transmitted by me to congress for
its consideration at its first regular session.'

"This committee was appointed, worked during the summer recess
and the result of its deliberations was the present law.

"To summarize, the results of the first McKinley administration were :

"The Dingley tariff.

"The sound money law.

"The war with Spain.

"The annexation of Porto Rico, the Philippines and Guam.

"The annexation of Hawaii.

"The annexation of Tutuila.

"The organization of Cuba."

CHAPTER XIII.

The President's Own Story of the Spanish War.

No more admirable presentation of all of the incidents leading up
to the Spanish war, or of the results of that event, has been made than
that of President McKinley himself, in his second annual message to
congress. In that document he said :

"Military service under a common flag and for a righteous cause has
strengthened the national spirit and served to cement more closely than
ever the fraternal bonds between every section of the country.

"In my annual message very full consideration was given to the
question of the duty of the government of the United States toward
Spain and the Cuban insurrection as being by far the most important
problem with which we were then called upon to deal. The considera-
tions then advanced, and the exposition of the views then expressed,
disclosed my sense of the extreme gravity of the situation.

SPAIN GIVEN TIAIE TO SETTLE TROUBLE.

"Setting aside, as logically unfounded or practically inadmissible,
the recognition of the Cuban insurgents as belligerents, the recognition
of the independence of Cuba, neutral intervention to end the war by
imposing a rational compromise between the contestants, intervention
in favor of one or the other party, and forcible annexation of the islands,
I concluded it was honestly due to our friendly relations with Spain
that she should be given a reasonable chance to realize her expecta-
tions of reform, to which she had become irrevocably committed. With-
in a few weeks previously she had announced comprehensive plans,
which it was confidently asserted would be efficacious to remedy the
evils so deeply affecting our own country, so injurious to the true
interests of the mother country as well as to those of Cuba, and so
repugnant to the universal sentiment of humanity.

"The ensuing month brought little sign of real progress toward
the pacification of Cuba. The autonomous administration set up in the
capital and some of the principal cities appeared not to gain the favor
of the inhabitants nor to be able to extend their influence to the laree
extent of territory held by the insurgents, while the military arm, obvi-
ously unable to cope with the still active rebellion, continued many of the

JAMES ABRAM GARFIELD
Assassinated in t88I

Our Martyred President 157

most objectionable and offensive policies vi the government that had
preceded it.

"No tangible relief was afforded the vast numbers of unhappy
reconcentrados, despite the reiterated professions made in that regard
and the amount appropriated by Spain to that end. The proffered
expedient of zones of cultivation proved illusory. Indeed, no less prac-
tical nor more delusive promises of succor could well ha\"e been ten-
dered to the exhausted and destitute people, stripped of all that made
life and home dear and herded in a strange region among unsvm':)a-
thetic strangers hardly less necessitous than themselves.

"By the end of December the mortality among them had frightfullv
increased. Conservative estimates from Spanish sources placed thiG
deaths among these distressed people at over 40 per cent from the tim.'
General Weyler's decree of reconcentration was enforced. With the
accjuiescence of the Spanish authorities a scheme was adopted for relief
by charitable contributions raised in this country and distributed, under
the direction of the consul general and the several consuls, by noble
and earnest individual effort through the organized agencies of the
American Red Cross. Thousands of lives were thus sa^'ed, l)ut man^■
thousands more were inaccessible to such forms of aid.

'The war continued on the old footing, without comprehensive plan,
developing only the same spasmodic encounters, barren of strategic re-
sult, that had marked the course of the earlier Ten Years' rebellion as
well as the present insurrection from its start. No alternati\-e sa\'e
physical exhaustion of either combatant, and therewithal the practical
ruin of the island, lay in sight, but how^ far distant no one could
venture to conjecture.

DESTRUCTION OF THE MAINE.

"At this juncture, on the 15th of February last, occurred the destruc-
tion of the battleship IMaine, while rightfully lying in the harbor of
Havana on a mission of international courtesy and good will — a catas-
trophe the suspicious nature and horror of which stirred the nation's
heart profoundly.

"It is a striking evidence of the poise and sturdy good sense distin-
guishing our national character that this shocking blow, falling upon a
generous people, already deeply touched by preceding events in Cuba,
did not move them to an Instant, desperate resolve to tolerate no longer
the existence of a condition of danger and disorder at our doors that
made possible such a deed by whomsoever wrought. Yet the instinct
of justice prevailed and the nation anxiously awaited the result of the
searching investigation at once set on foot.

158 Life of William McKinley

"The finding of the naval board of inquiry established that the origin
of the explosion was external by a submarine mine, and only halted
through lack of positive testimony to fix the responsibility of its author-
ship.

"All these things carried conviction to the most thoughtful, even
before the finding of the naval court, that a crisis in our relations with
Spain and- toward Cuba was at hand. So strong was this belief that
it needed but a brief executive suggestion to the congress to receive
immediate answer to the duty of making instant provision for the pos-
sible and perhaps speedy probable emergency of war, and the remark-
able, almost unique, spectacle was presented of a unanimous vote of
both houses on the 9th of March, appropriating $50,000,000 for the
national defense and for each and every purpose connected therewith,
to be expended at the direction of the president.

"That this act of provision came none too soon was disclosed when
the application of the fund was undertaken. Our forts were practi-
callv undefended. Our navy needed large provision for increased
ammunition and supplies and even numbers to cope with any sudden
attack from the navy of Spain, which comprised vessels of the highest
type of continental perfection. Our army also required enlargement of
men and munitions.

"The details of the hurried preparation for the dreaded contingency
are told in the reports of the secretaries of war and of the navy, and
need not be repeated here. It is sufficint to say that the outl3reak of
the war, when it did come, found our nation not unprepared to meet
the conflict.

"Nor was the apprehension of coming strife confined to our own
country. It was felt by the continental powers, which, on April 6,
through their ambassadors and envoys, addressed to the executive an
expression of hope that humanity and moderation might mark the
course of this government and people, and that further negotiations
would lead to an agreement which, while securing the maintenance of
peace, would afiirm all necessary guarantees for the re-establishment
of order in Cuba.

"In responding to that representation I also shared the hope that
the envoys had expressed that peace might be preserved in a manner
to terminate the chronic condition of disturbance in Cuba so injurious
and menacing to our interests and tranquillity, as well as shocking to
our sentiments of humanity; and. while appreciating the humanitarian
and disinterested character of the communication they had made on
behalf of the powers, I stated the confidence of this government, for
its part, that equal appreciation would be shown for its own earnest

Our Martyred President 159

and unselfish endeavors to fuUill a duty to humanity by ending a situ-
ation the indefinite prolongation of which had become insufferable.

EFFORTS TO AVERT WAR PROVE VAIN.

"Still animated by the hope of a peaceful solution and obeying the
dictates of duty, no effort was relaxed to bring about a speedy ending
of the Cuban struggle. Negotiations to this object continued actively
with the government of Spain, looking to the immediate conclusion
of a six months' armistice in Cuba with a view to effecting the recog-
nition of her people's rights to independence. Besides this, the instant
revocation of the order of reconcentration was asked, so that the suf-
ferers, returning to their homes and aided by united American and
Spanish effort, might be put in a way to support themselves and, by
orderly resumption of the well nigh destroyed productive energies
of the island, contribute to the restoration of its trancjuility and well
being.

'Negotiations continued for some little time at Madrid, resulting m
offers by the Spanish government which could not but be regarded as
inadequate. It was proposed to confide the preparation of peace to
tlie insular parliament, yet to be convened under the autonomous decrees
of November, 1897, but without impairment in any wise to the consti-
tutional powers of the Madrid government, which, to that end, would
grant an armistice, if solicited by the insurgents, for such time as the
general-in-chief might see fit to fix.

"How and with what scope of discretionary powers the insular
parliament was expected to set about the 'preparation' of peace did not
appear. If it were to be by negotiation witli the insurgents, the issue
seemed to rest on the one side with a body chosen by a fraction of
the electors in the districts under Spanish control and on the other
with the insurgent population holding the interior country, unrepre-
sented in the so-called parliament, and defiant at the suggestion of
suing for peace.

"Grieved and disappointed at this barren outcome of my sincere
endeavors to reach a practicable solution, I felt it my duty to remit
the whole question to the congress. In the message of April i, 1898,
I announced that with this last overture in tlie direction of immediate
peace in Cuba, and its disappointing reception by Spain, the effort of
the executive was brought to an end.

"I again reviewed the alternative course of action which I had
proposed, concluding that the only one consonant with international pol-
icy aiid compatible with our "firm-set historical traditions was interven-
tion as a neutral to stop the war and check the hopeless sacrifice of

i6o Life of William McKinley

life, even though that resort involved 'hostile constraint upon both the
parties to the contest, as well to enforce a truce as to guide the eventual
settlement.'

"The grounds justifying that step were: The interests of human-
ity, the duty to protect life and property of our citizens in Cuba, the
right to check injury to our commerce and people through the devas-
tation of the island, and, most important, the need of removing at once
and forever the constant menace and the burden entailed upon our gov-
ernment b}^ the uncertainties and perils of the situation caused by the
unendurable disturbance in Cuba. I said :

" 'The long trial has proved that the object for which Spain has
waged the war cannot be attained. The fire of insurrection may flame
or may smoulder with varying seasons, but it has not been, and it
is plain that it cannot be, extinguished by present methods. The only
hope of relief and repose from a condition which can no longer be
endured is the enforced pacification of Cuba. In the name of human-
ity, in the name of civilization, in behalf of endangered American in-
terests, which give us the right and the duty to speak, the existing
war in Cuba must stop.'

"In view of all this the congress was asked to authorize and em-
power the president to take measures to secure a full and final termin-
ation of hostilities between Spain and the people of Cuba and to secure
in the island the establishment of a stable government, capable of main-
taining order and observing its international obligations, insuring peace
and tranquillity, and the security of its citizens as well as our own,
and the accomplishment of those ends to use the military and naval
forces of the United States as might be necessary, with added author-
ity to continue generous relief to the starving people of Cuba.

CONGRESS TAKES DECISIVE ACTION.

"The response of the congress, after nine days of earnest delibera-
tion, during which the almost unanimous sentiment of that bodv was
developed on every point save as to the expediency of coupling the pro-
posed action with a formal recognition of the republic of Cuba as the
true and lawful government of that island — a proposition which failed
of adoption — the congress, after conference, on the 19th of April, by
a vote of 42 to 35 in the senate and 311 to 6 in the house of repre-
sentatives, passed the memorable joint resolution, declaring:

" 'i. That the people of the Island of Cuba are, and of right ought
to be. free and independent.

" '2. That it is the duty of' the United States to demand, and the
government of the United States does hereby demand, that the gov-

McKINLEY AT AGE OF J6.

Our Martyred President i6i

ernment of Spain at once reiinqnish its authority and government in
the Island of Cuba, and withdraw its land and naval forces from Cuba
and Cuban waters.

" '3. That the president of the United States be and* he hereby is
directed and empowered to use the entire land and naval forces of the
United States, and to call into th'2 actual service of the United States
the militia of the several states to such extent as may be necessary,
to carry these resolutions into effect.

" '4. That the United States hereby disclaims any .disposition or
intention to exercise sovereignty, jurisdiction or control over said island,
except for the pacification thereof, and asserts its determination, when
that is accomplished, to leave the grnernment and control of the island
to its people.'

"This resolution was approved by the executive on the next day,
April 20. A copy was at once communicated to the Spanish minister
at this capital, wlio forthwith announced that his continuance in Wash-
ington had thereby become impossible, and asked for his passports,
which were gi\-en him. He thereupon withdrew from Washington,
leaving the protection of Spanish interests in the United States to the
French ambassador and the Austro-Hungarian minister.

"Simultaneously with its communication to the Spanish minister.
General Woodford, the American minister at Madrid, was telegraphed
confirmation of the text of the joint resolution, and directed to com-
municate it to the government of Spain, with the formal demand that
it at once relinquish its authority and government in the Island of
Cuba, and Vx^ithdraw its forces therefrom, coupling this demand with
announcements of the intentions of this government as to the future
of the island, in conformity vv-ith the fourth clause of the resolution,
and giving Spain until n.oon of April 23d to reply.

'The demand, although, as above shown, officially made known to
the Spanish envoy here, was not delivered at Madrid. After the instruc-
tions reached General Woodford on the morning of April 21st, but
before he could present it, the Spanish Minister of State notified him
that upon the president's approval of the joint resolution tlie Madrid
government, regarding the act as "equi\-alent to an evident declaration
of war," had ordered its minister in Washington to withdraw, thereby
breaking off diplomatic relations between the two countries, and ceasing
all official communication between the respective representatives.
General Woodford thereupon demanded his passports and (juitted Ma-
drid the same day.

FORMAL DECLARATION OF WAR.

Spain liaving thus denied the demand ui the United States and

1 62 Life of William McKinley

initiated that complete form of rupture of relations which attends a state
of war, the executive powers authorized by the resolution were at once
used by me to meet the enlarged contingency of actual war between
Spain and thfe United States.

On April 22(1 I proclaimed a blockade of the northern coast of Cuba,
including ports on said coast between Cardenas and Bahia Honda, and
the port of Cienfuegos on the south coast ox Cuba, and on the 23d I
called for volunteers to execute the purpose of the resolution.

By my message of April 25th the congress w^as informed of the situ-
ation, and I recommended formal declaration of the existence of a
state of war between the United States and Spain. The Congress
accordingly voted on the same day the act approved April 25, 1898,
declaring the existence of such war, from and including the 21st day
of April, and re-enacted the provisions of the resolution of April 20th,
directing the President to use all the armed forces of the nation to carry
that act into effect.

Due notification of the existence of war as aforesaid was given
April 25th by telegraph to all the governments with which the United
States maintain relations, in order that their neutrality might be assured
during the war.

The various governments responded with proclamations of neutral-
ity, each after its own methods. It is not among the least gratifying
incidents of the struggle that the obligations of neutrality were impar-
tially discharged by all, often under delicate and difficult circumstances.

In further fulfillment of international duty, I issued, April 26th, a
proclamation announcing the treatment proposed to be accorded to ves-
sels and their cargoes as to blockades, contraband, the exercise of the
rights of subjects and the immunity of neutral flags and neutral goods
under the enemy's flag. A similar proclamation was made by the Span-
ish government. In the conduct of hostilities the rules of the declara-
tion of Paris, including abstention from resort to privateering, have
accordingly been observed by both belligerents, although neither was a
party to that declaration.

RECRUITING ARMY AND NAVY.

Our country thus, after an interval of half a century of peace with
all nations, found itself engaged in deadly conflict with a foreign enemy.
Every nerve w^as strained to meet the emergency.

The response to the initial call for 125,000 volunteers was instant
and complete, as was also the result of the second call of May 25th for
75,000 additional volunteers. The ranks of the regular army were
increased to the limits provided by the act of April 26th.

Our Martyred President 163

The enlisted force of the navy on the 15th of August, when it
reached its maximum, numbered 24,123 men and apprentices. One
hundred and three vessels were added to the navy by purchase, one was
presented to the government, one leased and the four vessels of the
International Navigation Company — the St. Paul, St. Louis, New York
and Paris — were cliartered. In addition to these the revenue cutters
and lighthouse tenders were turned over to the navy department and
became temporarily a part of the auxiliary navy.

The maximum effective fighting force of the navy during the war,
separated into classes, was as follows :

Regular — Four battleships of the first class, one battleship of the
second class, two armored cruisers, six coast defense monitors, one
armored ram, twelve protected cruisers, three unprotected cruisers,
eighteen gunboats, one dynamite cruiser, eleven torpedo boats, fourteen
old vessels of the old navy, including monitors.

Auxiliary Navy — Sixteen auxiliary cruisers, twenty-eight converted
yachts, twenty-seven converted tugs, nineteen converted colliers, fifteen
revenue cutters, four lighthouse tendiers and nineteen miscellaneous
vessels.

Much alarm was felt along our entire Atlantic seaboard lest some
attack might be made by the enemy. Every precaution was taken to
prevent possible injury to our great cities lying along the coast. Tem-
porary garrisons were provided, drawn from the state militia. Infantry
and light batteries were drawn from the volunteer force. About 12,000
troops were thus employed. The coast signal service was established
for observing the approach of an enemy's ships to the coast of the United
States, and the life-saving and lighthouse services co-operated, which
enabled the navy department to have all portions of the Atlantic coast,
from IMaine to Texas, under observation.

The auxiliary navy was created under the authority of Congress and
was officered and manned by the naval militia of the several states. This
organization patrolled the coast and performed the duty of a second
arm of defense.

Under the direction of the chief of engineers submarine mines were
placed at the most exposed points. Before the outbreak of the war per-
manent mining casements and cable galleries had been constructed at
all important harbors. Most of the torpedo material was not to be
found in the market and had to be specially manufactured. Under date
of April 19th district officers were directed to take all preliminary meas-
ures, short of the actual attaching of the loaded mines to the cables, and
on April 22d telegraphic orders were issued to place the loaded mines in
position.

164 Life of William McKinlcy

The aggregate number of mines placed was 1,535 ^t tlie principal
harbors from Maine to California. Preparations were also made for
the planting of mines at certain other harbors, but owing to the early
destruction of the Spanish fleet these mines were not placed.

The signal corps was promptly organized and performed service of
most difficult and important character. Its operations during the war
covered the electrical connection of all coast fortifications and the estab-
lishment of telephonic and telegraphic facilities for the camps at Manila,
Santiago and in Porto Rico.

There were constructed 300 miles of line at ten great camps, thus
facilitating military movements from those points in a manner hereto-
fore unknown in military administration. Field telegraph lines were
established and maintained under the enemy's fire at Manila, and later
the Manila-Hongkong cable was reopened. In Porto Rico cable com-
munications were opened over a discontinued route, and on land the
headquarters of the commanding officer were kept in telegraphic or
telephonic communication with the division commanders of four differ-
ent lines of operation.

There was placed in Cuban waters a completely outfitted cable ship,
with war cables and cable gear suitable both for the destruction of com-
munications belonging to the enemy and the establishment of our
own. Two ocean cables were destroyed under the enemy's batteries at
Santiago. The day previous to the landing of General Shafter's corps
at Caimanera, within twenty miles of the landing place, cable com-
munications w^ere established and cable stations opened, giving direct
communication with the government at Washington. This service was
invaluable to the executive in directing the operations of the army and
navy.

With a total force of over 1,300 the loss was "by disease and field,
officers and men included, only five.

NATION TAKES WAR BONDS.

The national defense under the $50,000,000 fund was expended in
large part by the army and navy, and the objects for which it was used
are fully shown in the reports of the several secretaries. It was a most
timely appropriation, enabling the government to strengthen its defense
and making preparations greatly needed in case of war.

This fund being inadequate to the requirements of equipment and
for the conduct of the war, the patriotism of the congress provided the
means in the war revenue act of June 13th, by authorizing a 3 per cent
popular loan, not to exceed $400,000,000, and by levying additional im-
posts and taxes. Of the authorized loan, $200,000,000 were offered

Our Martyred President 165

and promptly taken, the subscriptions so far exceeding tlie call as to
co\'er it many times over, while, preference being given to the smaller
bids, no single allotment exceeded $5,000.

This was a most encouraging and significant result, showing the
vast resources of the nation and the determination of the people to
uphold their country's honor.

devv'ey's great victory.

The tirst encounter of the war in point of date took place April 27th,
when a detachment of the blockading squadron made a reconnoissance
in force at INIatanzas, shelled the harbor forts and demolished several
new works in course of construction.

The next engagement was destined to mark a memorable epoch
in maritime warfare. The Pacific fleet, under Commodore Dewey, had
Iain for some weeks at Hongkong. Upon the colonial proclamation of
neutrality being issued and tlie customary twenty-four hours' notice
being given, it repaired to Mirs Bay, near Hongkong, whence it pro-
ceeded to the Philippine Islands under telegraphic orders to capture or
destroy the formidable Spanish fleet then assembled at Manila.

At daybreak on the ist of JNIav the American force entered Manila
Bay, and after a few hours' engagement effected the total destruction of
the Spanish fleet, consisting of ten warships and a transport, besides
capturing the naval station and forts at Cavite, thus annihilating the
Spanish naval power in the Pacific ocean and completely controlling the
Bay of Manila, with the ability to take the city at will. Not a life was
lost on our ships, the w^ounded only numbering seven, while not a vessel
was materially injured.

For this gallant achievement the congress, upon my recommenda-
tion, fitly bestowed upon the actors preferment and substantial reward.

The effect of this remarkable victory upon the spirit of our people
and upon the fortunes of the war was instant. A prestige of invincibil-
ity thereby attached to our arms, which continued throughout the
struggle. Re-enforcements were hurried to Manila under the command
of Major-General Merritt and firmly established within sight of the
capital, which lay helpless before our guns.

On the 7th day of May the government was advised officially of the
victory at INIanila, and at once inquired of the commander of our fleet
what troops would be required. The information was received on the
15th day of May. and the first army expedition sailed May 25th and
arrived off Manila June 30. ' Other expeditions soon followed, the
total force consisting of 641 officers and 15,058 men.

Only reluctance to cause needless loss of life and property prevented

i66 Life of William McKinley

the early storming and capture of the city, and therewith the absohite
mihtary occupancy of the whole group. The insurgents meanwhile had
resumed the active hostilities suspended by the uncompleted truce of
December, 1897. Their forces invested Manila from the northern and
eastern side, but were constrained by Admiral Dewey and General Mer-
ritt from attempting an assault.

It was fitting that whatever was to be done in the way of decisive
operations in that quarter should be accomplished by the strong arm
of the United States alone. Obeying the stern precept of war, which
enjoins the overcoming of the adversary and the extinction of his power
wherever assailable as the speedy and sure means to win a peace, divided
victory was not permissible, for no partition of the rights and responsi-
bilities attending the enforcement of a just and advantageous peace
could be thought of.

CAMPAIGN IN CUBA REVIEWED.

Following the comprehensive scheme of general attack, powerful
forces were assembled at various points on our coast to invade Cuba and
Porto Rico. Meanwhile naval demonstrations were made at several
exposed points. On May nth the cruiser Wilmington and torpedo boat
;Winslow^ were unsuccessful in an attempt to silence the batteries at
Cardenas, against Matanzas, Worth Bagley and four seamen falling.

These grievous fatalities were, strangely enough, among the very
few w^hich occurred during our naval operations in this extraordinary
conflict.

Meanwhile the Spanish naval preparations had been pushed with
great vigor. A powerful squadron under Admiral Cervera, which had
assembled at the Cape Verde Islands before the outbreak of hostilities,
had crossed the ocean, and by its erratic movements in the Caribbean
Sea delayed our military operations while baffling the pursuit of our
fleets. For a time fears w^ere felt lest the Oregon and Marietta, then
nearing home after their long voyage from San Francisco of over 15,000
miles, might be surprised by Admiral Cervera's fleet, but their fortunate
arrival dispelled these apprehensions and lent much needed re-enforce-
ment.

Not until Admiral Cervera took refuge in the Harbor of Santiago de
Cuba about May 9th was it practicable to plan a systematic military
attack upon the Antillean possessions of Spain. Several demonstrations
occurred on the coasts of Cuba and Porto Rico in preparation for the
larger event. On ]\Iay 13th the North Atlantic squadron shelled San
Juan de Porto Rico. On ]\Iay 30th Commodore Schley's squadron
bombarded the forts guarding the mouth of Santiago Harbor. Neither

Our Martyred President 167

attack had any material result. It was evident that well-ordered land
operations were indispensable to achieve a decisive advantage.

The next act in the war thrilled not alone the hearts of our country-
men but the world by its exceptional heroism.

SINKING OF THE MERRIMAC.

On the night of June 3d Lieutenant Hobson, aided by seven devoted
volunteers, blocked the narrow outlet from Santiago Harbor by sinking
the collier Merrimac in the channel, under a fierce fire from the shore
batteries, escaping with their lives as by a miracle, but falling into the
hands of the Spaniards.

It is a most gratifying incident of the war that the bravery of this
little band of heroes was cordially appreciated by the Spaniards, who
sent a flag of truce to notify Admiral Sampson of their safety and to
compliment them upon their daring act. They were subsequently
exchanged July 7th.

By June 7tri the cutting of the last Cuban cable isolated the island.
Thereafter the invasion was vigorously prosecuted. On June loth,
under a heavy protecting fire, a landing of 600 marines from the Oregon,
Marblehead and Yankee was effected in Guantanamo Bay, where it had
been determined to establish a naval station. This important and essen-
tial port was taken from the enemy after severe fighting by the marines,
who were the first organized force of the United States to land in
Cuba. The position so won was held despite desperate attempts to
dislodge our forces.

By June i6th additional forces were landed and strongly intrenched.
On June 22d the advance of the invading army under Major-General
Shafter landed at Baiquiri, about fifteen miles east of Santiago. This
was accomplished under great difficulties, but with marvelous dispatch.
On June 23d the movement against Santiago was begun.

On the 24th the first serious engagement took place, in which the
First and Tenth Ca\'a]ry and the First United States Volunteer Cavalry,
General Young's brigade of General Wheeler^'s division, participated,
losing heavily. By nightfall, however, ground within five miles of San-
tiago was won.

The advantage was steadily increased. On July ist a severe battle
took place, our forces gaining the outworks of Santiago. On the 2d EI
Caney and San Juan were taken after a desperate charge, and the invest-
ment of the city was completed. The navy co-operated by shelling the
town and coast forts.

DESTRUCTION OF CERVERA's FLEET.

On the day following this brilliant achievement of our land forces,

'i68 Life of William McKinley

July 3d, occurred the decisive naval combat of the war. The Spanish
fleet, attempting to leave the harbor, was met by the American squadron
under command of Commodore Schley. In less than three hours all
the Spanish ships were destroyed, the two torpedo boats being sunk,
and the Maria Teresa, Ahnirante Oquendo, Vizcaya and Cristobol Colon
driven ashore. The Spanish admiral and over 1,300 men were taken
prisoners, while the enemy's loss of life was deplorably large, some 600
perishing.

On our side but one man was killed, on the Brooklyn, and one man
seriously wounded. Although our ships were repeatedly struck, not
one was seriously injured.

Where all so conspicuously distinguished themselves, from the com-
manders to the gunners and the unnamed heroes in the boiler-rooms,
each and all contributing toward the achievement of this astounding
victory, for which neither ancient nor modern history affords a parallel
in the completeness of the event and the marvelous disproportion of
casualties, it would be invidious to single out any for especial honor.

Deserved promotion has rewarded the more conspicuous actors —
the nation's profoundest gratitude is due to all of those brave men who
by their skill and devotion in a few short hours crushed the sea power
of Spain and wrought a triumph whose decisiveness and far-reaching
consequences can scarcely be measured. Nor can we be unmindful of
the achievements of our builders, mechanics and artisans for their skill
in the construction of our warships.

With the catastrophe of Santiago Spain's effort upon the ocean
virtually ceased. A spasmodic effort toward the end of June to send her
Mediterranean fleet under Admiral Camara to relieve Manila was aban-
doned, the expedition being recalled after it had passed through the Suez
Canal.

The capitulation of Santiago followed. The city was closely be-
seiged by land, while the entrance of our ships into the harbor cut off all
relief on that side. After a truce to allow of the removal of non-combat-
ants protracted negotiations continued from July 3d to July 15th, when,
under menace of immediate assault, the preliminaries of surrender were
agreed upon. On the 17th General Shafter occupied the city.

The capitulation embraced the entire eastern end of Cuba. The
number of Spanish soldiers surrendered was 22,000, all of whom were
subsequently conveyed to Spain at the charge of the United States.

The story of this successful campaign is told in the report of the
secretary of war, which will be laid before you. The individual valor
of officers and soldiers was never more strikingly shown than in the
several engagements leading to the surrender of Santiago, while the

McKINLEY AT AGE OF J 8.

Our Martyred President 169

prompt movements and successive victories won instant and universal
applause.

To those who gained this complete triumph, which established the
ascendancy of the United States upon land as the fight off Santiago had
fixed our supremacy on the seas, the earnest and lasting gratitude of the
nation is unsparingly due.

Nor should we alone remember the gallantry of the living; the dead
claim our tears, and our losses by battle and disease must cloud any
exultation at the result and teach us to weigh the awful cost of war,
however rightful the cause or signal the victory.

OCCUPATION OF PORTO RICO.

With the fall of Santiago, the occupation of Porto Rico became the
next strategic necessity. General Miles had previously been assigned to
organize an expedition for that purpose. Fortunately he was already at
Santiago, wdiere he had arrived on the nth of July, with re-enforce-
ments for General Shafter's army.

With these troops, consisting of 3,415 infantry and artillery, two
companies of engineers, and one company of the signal corps, General
Miles left Guantanamo on July 21st, having nine transports convoyed
by the fleet under Captain Higginson, with the Massachusetts (flag-
ship), Dixie. Gloucester, Columbia and Yale, the two latter carrying-
troops. The expedition landed at Guanica July 25th, which port was
entered with little opposition. Here the fleet was joined by the Annap-
olis and the W^asp, while the Puritan and Amphitrite went to San Juan
and joined the New Orleans, which w^as engaged in blockading that
port.

The major-general commanding was subsecjuently re-enforced by
General Schwann's brigade of the Third Army Corps, by General Wil-
son, with a part of his division, and also by General Brooke, wnth a
part of his corps, numbering in all 16,973 officers and men. On July 2"]
he entered Ponce, one of the most important ports in the island, from
which he thereafter directed operations for the capture of the island.

With the exception of encounters with the enemy at Guayama,
Hormigueres, Coamo and Yauco, and an attack on a force landing at
Cape San Juan, there was no serious resistance. The campaign was
prosecuted with great vigor, and by the 12th of August much of the
island was in our possession, and the acquisition of the remainder was
only a matter of a short time.

At most of the points in the island our troops were enthusiastically
w^elcomed. Protestations of loyalty to the flag and gratitude for deliv-
ery from Spanish rule met our commanders at every stage.

170 Life of William McKinley

x'^s a potent influence toward peace, the outcome of the Porto Rican
expedition was of great consequence, and generous commendation is
due to those who participated in it.

LAST BATTLE OF THE WAR.

The last scene of the war was enacted at Manila, its starting place.
On August 15th, after a brief assault upon the works by the land forces,
in which the scjuadron assisted, the capital surrendered unconditionally.
The casualties were comparatively few.

By this the conquest of the Phihppine Islands, virtually accomplished
when the Spanish capacity for resistance was destroyed by Admiral
Dewey's victory of the ist of May, was formally sealed.

To General Merritt, his officers and men, for their uncomplaining
and devoted services, for their gallantry in action, the nation is sincerely
grateful. Their long voyage was made wnth singular success, and the
soldierly conduct of the men, most of whom were without previous
experience in the military service, deserves unmeasured praise.

LOSSES OF ARMY AND NAVY.

The total casualties in killed and wounded during the war were as
follows :

ARMY,

Officers killed 23

Enlisted men killed 257

Total 280

Officers wounded 113

Enlisted men wounded 1,464

Total 1,577

NAVY.

Killed 17

Wounded 67

Died as result of wounds i

Invalided from service 6

Total 91

It will be observed that while our navy was engaged in two great
battles and in numerous perilous undertakings in the blockades and bom-
bardment, and more than fifty thousand of our troops were transported
to distant lands and engaged in assault and siege and battle and many

Our Martyred President 171

skirmishes in unfamiliar territory, we lost in both arms of the service a
total of 1,948 killed and wounded; and in the entire campaign by land
and sea we did not lose a gun or a flag or a transport or a ship, and with
the exception of the crew of the Merrimac not a soldier or sailor was
taken prisoner.

On August 7, forty-six days from the date of the landing of General
Shafter's army in Cuba and twenty-one days from the surrender of San-
tiago, the United Slates troops commenced embarkation for home, and
our entire force was returned to the United States as early as August 25th.
They were absent from the United States only two months.

It is fitting that I should bear testimony to the patriotism and devotion
of that large portion of our army which, although eager to be ordered to
the post of greatest exposure, fortunately was not required outside of the
United States. They did their wdiole duty, and, like their comrades at
the front, have earned the gratitude of the nation.

In like manner, the officers and men of the army and of the navy who
remained in their departments and stations of the navy, performing most
important duties connected with the war, and whose requests for assign-
ments in the field and at sea I was compelled to refuse because their serv-
ices were indispensable here, are entitled to the highest commendation.
It is my regret that there seems to be no provision for their suitable recog-
nition.

In this connection it is a pleasure for me to mention in terms of cordial
appreciation the timely and useful work of the American National Red
Cross, both in relief measures preparatory to the campaign, in sanitary
assistance at several of the camps and assemblages, and later, under the
able and experienced leadership of the president of the society. Miss Clara
Barton, on the fields of battle and in the hospitals at the front in Cuba.
Working in conjunction with the governmental authorities and under
their sanction and approval and with the enthusiastic co-operation of
many patriotic women and societies in the various states, the Red Cross
has fully maintained its already high reputation for intense earnestness
and ability to exercise the noble purposes of its international organization,
thus justifying the confidence and support which it has received at the
hands of the American people.

To the members and officers of this society and all who aided them in
their philanthropic work, the sincere and lasting gratitude of the soldiers
and the public is due and is freely accorded.

In tracing these events we are constantly reminded of our obligations
to the Divine Master for His watchful care over us and His safe guidance,
for which the nation makes reverent acknowledgment and offers humble
prayer for the continuance of His favor.

1^2 Life of William McKinley

SIGNING OF THE PROTOCOL.

The annihilation of Admiral Cervera's fleet, followed by the capitula^
tion of Santiago, having brought to the Spanish government a realizing
sense of the hopelessness of continuing a struggle now becoming wholly
unequal, it made overtures of peace through the French ambassador, who,
with the assent of his government, had acted as the friendly representative
of Spanish interests during the war.

On the 26th of July M. Cambon presented a communication signed by
the Duke of Almodovar, the Spanish minister of state, inviting the United
States to state the terms upon which it would be willing to make peace.

On July 30th, by a communication addressed to the Duke of Almo-
dovar and handed to M. Cambon, the terms of this government were an-
nounced, substantially as in the protocol afterward signed.

On August loth the Spanish reply, dated August 7th, was handed by
M. Cambon to the secretary of state. It accepted unconditionally the
terms imposed as to Cuba, Porto Rico and an island of the Ladrones
group, but appeared to seek to introduce inadmissible reservations in re-
gard to our demand as to the Philippines.

Conceiving that discussion on this point could neither be practicable
nor profitable, it was directed that in order to avoid misunderstanding the
matter should be forthwith closed by proposing the embodiment in a
formal protocol of the terms on which the negotiations for peace were
to be undertaken.

The vague and inexplicit suggestions of the Spanish note could not be
accepted, the only reply being to present as a virtual ultimatum a draft
of a protocol embodying the precise terms tendered to Spain in our note
of July 30th, with added stipulations of detail as to the appointment of
commissioners to arrange for the evacuation of the Spanish Antilles.

On August 1 2th M. Cambon announced his receipt of full power to
sign the protocol as submitted. Accordingly, on the afternoon of August
1 2th, M. Cambon, as the pleni])otentiary of Spain, and the secretary of
state, as the plenipotentiary of the United States, signed the protocol, pro-
viding :

"Article i. Spain will relinquish all claim of sovereignty over and
title to Cuba.

"Article 2. Spain will cede to the United States the Island of Porto
Rico and other islands now under Spanish sovereignty in the West
Indies, and also an island in the Ladrones to be selected bv the United
States.

"Article 3. The United States will occupy and hold the city, bay and
harbor of Manila pending the conclusion of a treaty of peace, which shall
determine the control, disposition and government of the Philippines."

Our Martyred President 173

The fourth article provided for the appointment of joint commissions
on the part of the United States and Spain, to meet in Havana and San
Juan, respectively, for the purpose of arranging and carrying out the
details of the stipulated evacuation of Cuba, Porto Rico and other Spanish
islands in the West Indies.

The fifth article provided for the appointment of not more than five
commissioners on each side to meet at Paris not later than October ist
and to proceed to the negotiation and conclusion of a treaty of peace, sub-
ject to ratification according to the respective constitutional forms of the
two countries.

The sixth and last article provided that upon the signature of the pro-
tocol, hostilities between the two countries should be suspended, and that
notice to that effect should be given as soon as possible by each govern-
ment to the commanders of its military and naval forces.

CESSATION OF STRIFE.

Immediately upon the conclusion of the protocol I issued a proclama-
tion on August 1 2th, suspending hostilities on the part of the United
States. The necessary orders to that end were at once given by telegraph.
The blockade of the ports of Cuba and San Juan de Porto Rico were in
like manner raised.

On August 1 8th the muster out of 100,000 volunteers, or as near that
number as was found to be practicable, was ordered. On December i st,
101,165 officers and men had been mustered out and discharged from the
service; 9,002 more will be mustered out by the loth of the month. Also
a corresponding number of generals and general staff officers have been
honorably dischargd from service.

The military committees to superintend the evacuation of Cuba, Porto
Rico and the adjacent islands were forthwith appointed — for Cuba, Major
General James F. Wade, Rear Admiral William T. Sampson and Major-
General Matthew C. Butler; for Porto Rico, Major-General John C.
Brooke, Rear Admiral Winfield S. Schley and Brigadier-General W. W.
Gordon, who soon afterward met the Spanish commissioners at Havana
and San Juan, respectively.

WORK OF EVACUATION.

The Porto Rican joint commissions speedily accomplished its task,
and by October i8th the evacuation of the island was completed. The
United States flag was raised over the island at noon on that day.

As soon as we are in possession of Cuba and have pacified the island
it will be necessary to give aid and direction to its people to form a gov-
ernment for themselves. This should be undertaken at the earliest mo-
ment consistent with safety and assured success.

174 Life of William McKinley

It is important that our relations with these people shall be of the most
friendly character and our commercial relations close and reciprocal. It
should be our duty to assist in every proper way to build up the waste
places of the island, encourage the industry of the people and assist them
to form a government which shall be free and independent, thus realizing
the best aspirations of the Cuban people.

Spanish rule must be replaced by a just, benevolent and humane gov-
ernment, created by the people of Cuba, capable of performing all inter-
national obligations, and which shall encourage thrift, industry and pros-
perity, and promote peace and good will among all the inhabitants, what-
ever may have been their relations in the past. Neither revenge nor pas-
sion should have a place in the new government.

William McKinley,
President of the United States.

CHAPTER XIV.

Chronological Events of the Spanish-American War. Loss

and Cost of the War.

APRIL_, 1898.

April 7. Several diplomatic officials of Great Britain, Germany,
France, Austria, Italy and Russia, met the President at the White House
bearing a message of friendship and peace. The collective note of the
great powers was replied to by the President in fitting terms.

April 10. The Spanish minister presented the final plea of his gov-
ernment for peace to Mr. Day, the assistant secretary of state.

April II. President McKinley sent his war message to congress.

April 19. Congress passed a joint resolution by a vote of 42 yeas
to 35 nays in the senate, and of 319 yeas to 6 nays in the house of repre-
sentatives, declaring war against Spain.

April 20. The President approved the resolution.

April 21. General Woodford, minister to Spain, received his pass-
ports from the Spanish government.

April 22. Blockading proclamation issued. It was also on this
date that the first gun of the war was fired by the gunboat Nashville in
capturing the first prize of the war, the Buena Ventura.

April 23. The President called for 125,000 volunteers for service
during two years.

April 24. Spain issued a decree that war existed with the United
States.

April 25. War formally declared by congress against Spain.

April 27. First battle of the war was fought off Matanzas by Ad-
miral Sampson with the New York, the Puritan and the Cincinnati.

April 29. Cervera's fleet sailed for Cuba.

April 30. The battleship Oregon arrived at Rio de Janeiro from
San Francisco.

MAY.

May I. Admiral Dewey destroyed the entire Spanish fleet under
Admiral Montojo in the Bay of Manila.

May 2. Commodore Dewey cut the cable connections between Ma-
nila and Hong Kong and took possession of the naval station at Cavite.

176

176 Life of William McKinley

May 4- The vessels of Rear Admiral Sampson's fleet sailed from

Key West.

May 6. The French steamer La Fayette was captured as a blockade

runner.

May 7. Commodore Dewey was promoted to be rear admiral and
given the thanks of congress.

May II. Naval encounter at Cardenas resulting in the death of
Ensign Bagley.

May 12. First fight on Cuban soil in attempting to land supplies.
Fart of the fleet under Admiral Sampson bombarded the batteries de-
fending San Juan, Porto Rico.

May 13. The "Flying Squadron" under Commodore Schley sailed
from Hampton Roads.

May 15. The entire Spanish cabinet resigned.

May 16. General Merritt was assigned to the new department of
the Pacific, including the Philippines.

May 18. The cruiser Charleston, Captain Glass, sailed from San
Francisco for the Philippines.

May 19. Cervera's fleet arrived in the bay of Santiago de Cuba.

May 21. The monitor Monterey was ordered to Manila.

May 23. The First California regiment embarked on tlie City of
Peking for Manila.

May 25. The President called for 75,000 additional volunteers.

May 26. The Oregon arrived at Key West.

May 30. Commodore Schley sent a dispatch that he had seen Cer-
vera's fleet in the bay of Santiago de Cuba.

JUNE.

June I. Admiral Sampson joined Commodore Schley and took
command of the united American fleets, composed of sixteen warships,
off Santiago de Cuba.

June 3. The Merrimac was sunk in the mouth of the Santiago har-
bor and Hobson was taken prisoner with the seven brave men who vol-
unteered to accompany him.

June 6. Ten ships bombarded the batteries at Santiago de Cuba.

June 7. The French cable was cut in Guantanamo Bay.

June 10. Six hundred United States marines were landed at Cai-
manera, near Guantanamo, and located at Camp McCalla.

June II and 12. Fighting took place at Camp McCalla.

June 13. Camara's fleet sailed from Spain. A portion of the first
military expedition left Tampa, Florida, for Santiago de Cuba.

June 14. Spanish troops were pursued by scouting parties of ma-

McKINLEY AT AGE OF 22.

Our Martyred President 177

rines and Cubans on Guantanamo Bay; 200 Spaniards killed and
wounded.

June 15. The Texas, Marblehead and Suwanee bombarded the forts
at Caimanera.

June 16. Forts at Santiago were again bombarded by Sampson's
fleet.

June 18. Admiral Camara's fleet arrived at Cartagena.

June 20. United States troopships arrived at Santiago de Cuba.

June 21 and 22. The American army under General Shafter landed
at Daiquiri and Siboney from the troopships.

June 22. The auxiliary cruiser St. Paul destroyed the Spanish
torpedo boat Terror.

June 23. The monitor Monadnock sailed for Manila.

June 24. General Young and the Rough Riders attack the Span-
iards at La Guasimas, near Sevilla. Hamilton Fish, Jr., and Captain
A. K. Capron were killed.

June 25. The Americans under General Chafl"ee occupied Sevilla

June 26. The advance American forces reached San Juan, four miles
distant from Santiago.

June 27. The third Manila expedition, commanded by General
Arthur MacArthur, sailed from San Francisco.

June 28. President McKinley issued proclamation extending the
blockade further of Cuban ports.

June 29. Major-General Merritt sailed for the Philippines from
San Francisco. General Snyder's division of troops sailed for Santiago
de Cuba, from Tampa.

June 30. The cruiser Charleston, with three transports, arrived in
Manila bay.

JULY.

July I and 2. General Lawton, General Kent, General Chaffee,
General Young, Colonel Roosevelt, with Grimes, Capron and other
brave officers and men, take the heights of El Caney and San Juan, over-
looking Santiago de Cuba. The American losses in the two days'
engagement were: Officers killed, 23; men, 208. Officers wounded,
80; men, 1,203. Missing, 81 men.

July 3. Destruction of Cervera's fleet.

July 4. Truce established between the contending forces.

July 5. General Toral refused to surrender the city. The truce
was extended.

July 6. Lieutenant Hobson and his men exchanged.

July 7. An extension of armistice was granted.

178 Life of William McKinley

July 8. The Concord and the Raleigh, of Admiral's Dewey's squad-
ron, took possession of Isla Grande in Subig bay, on the island of Luzon.

July 9. General Miles sailed from Charleston on the Yale for San-
tiago de Cuba. General Toral offered to surrender if his troops were
permitted to march out with their arms. The proposal was not accepted.

July II. General Miles arrived at Santiago de Cuba, and conferred
with General Shafter. Firing was resumed against the Spanish defenses.

July 14. General Toral agreed to surrender.

July 15. The fourth Manila expedition sailed from San Francisco,
under General Otis, with 1,700 troops.

July 16. Admiral Cervera and the officers captured from his fleet
arrived at Annapolis as prisoners of war.

July 17. The city of Santiago de Cuba formally surrendered to
General Shafter.

July 18. President McKinley issued his proclamation regarding
the government of Santiago de Cuba.

July 25. General Miles landed in Porto Rico, near Ponce.

July 26. Spain proposed peace through the French ambassador, M.
Jules Cambon.

July zy. The American forces advanced against Yauco, in Porto
Rico.

July 28. General Brooke sailed with his command from Newport
News for Porto Rico.

July 29. The American forces moved towards Malate on the road
to Manila.

July 30. The President transmitted to Spain a statement regard-
ing the basis of peace.

July 31. Battle of Malate between the Americans and Spanish
near Cavite and Manila.

AUGUST,

Aug. I. The American troops in Porto Rico moved toward San
Juan, General Miles having joined Generals Brooke and Schwan.

Aug. 5. The town of Guayama, in Porto Rico, was captured after
a slight engagement by the Fourth Ohio and the Third Pilinois Regi-
ments.

Aug. 7. Admiral Dewey and General Merritt demanded the surren-
der of I\Ianiia. The demand was refused.

Aug. 8. A skirmish took place near Guayama, Porto Rico. Five
soldiers of the Fourth Ohio were wounded.

Aug. 9. The town of Coamo, Porto Rico, was captured. Spain's
reply to the peace proposition was presented to the President.

Our Martyred President 179

Aug-. 10. Secretary Day and M. Jules Cambon agreed on the terms
of a protocol to be sent to Spain for approval.

Aug. II. A protocol suspending hostilities was signed in Washing-
ton at 4:23 p. m., M. Jules Cambon having received authority from
Spain to act for it.

Aug. 13. Manila surrendered to the troops under General Merritt
and Admiral Dewey.

Aug. 17. The President appointed, as commissioners to act regard-
ing the evacuation of Cuba. Major-General James F. Wade, Rear- Ad-
miral William T. Sampson, and Major-General Matthew C. Butler. For
Porto Rico he named Major-General John R. Brooke, Rear-Admiral
Winfield S. Schley and Brigadier-General William W. Gordon.

Aug. 19. Spain appointed as commissioners for Cuba, Major-Gen-
eral Gonzales Parrade, Rear-Admiral Pastor y Landere and Marquis
Montoro. For Porto Rico, ]\Iajor-General Ortega y Diaz, Commodore
Vallarino y Carrasco and Judge-Advocate Sanchez Aguila y Leon.

Aug. 20. A grand naval parade was held in New York, in which
the New York, Brooklyn, Massachusetts, Indiana, Texas, Oregon and
Iowa participated.

SEPTEMBER.

Sept. 9. President McKinley appointed as peace commissioners
William R. Day of Ohio, Senators William P. Frye of Maine, Cushman
K. Davis of Minnesota, George Gray of Delaware and Mr. Whitelaw
Reid of New York.

Sept. 17. The American commissioners sailed for Paris.

Sept. 18. The Spanish government appointed as commissioners
Senor Montero Rios, Senor Abarzuza, Senor Garnica, General Cerero
and Senor Villarrutia.

Sept. 20. The evacuation of Porto Rico was begun.

Sept. 21. Mustering out of volunteers ordered to begin at once.

Sept. 24. ]\Iuch criticism having been made in various direction^
regarding the conduct of the war, the President appointed a Commis-
sion of Investigation, wdiich convened on this day at Washington. The
commission was composed of the following persons: Major-General
Grenville M. Dodge of Iowa, Colonel J. A. Sexton of Illinois, Captain
E. P. Howell of Georgia, Major-General J. M. Wilson, chief of engineers
of tlie United States army; the Hon. Charles Denby of Indiana, late
minister to China ; ex-Governor Urban A. Woodbury of Vermont, ex-
Governor James A. Beaver of Pennsylvania, Major-General A. McD.
McCook of the army (retired), Dr. Phineas S. Connor of Cincinnati.
General Dodge was elected chairman of the commission.

I bo

Life of William McKinley

THE TREATY OF PARIS.

On Christmas Eve, 1898, the Peace Commission delivered to the
President of the United States a copy of the treaty of peace drawn up
and signed in the city of Paris, December loth, 1898. By this treaty,
Spain lost her sovereignty over Cuba and ceded to the United States
the Island of Porto Rico and her other, possessions in the West Indies,
the Island of Guam in the Ladrones, and all her possessions in the
Philippines.

The Spanish Commissioners asked an indemnity for the expense
Spain had incurred in the war with the Filipinos.

As a compromise of this claim, the United States agreed to pay Spain
$20,000,000 within three months after the ratification of the treaty.

In the United States the ratification of the treaty was bitterly
opposed in many quarters, and it was not until February 6th, 1899, that
the Senate voted its approval.

Its action was accelerated, no doubt, by the fact that the Filipinos
had attacked the American forces at Manila on February 5th, and
although a brilliant victory had been won by our troops, several of the
brave soldiers had been killed and wounded. The American spirit at
home was thoroughly aroused. Patriotism arose above party. Repub-
licans, Democrats, Populists and Silverites voted to sustain the govern-
ment by a vote of 57 to 2^.

COST OF THE WAR IN 1 898 TO BOTH NATIONS.
COST TO SPAIN.

Although w^e have not official figures concerning the losses of the
Spaniards, the following may be considered a very good estimate:

LOSS OF TERRITORY.

Area in sq. miles. Population. Financial value.

Cuba 41,655 1,631,687 $300,000,000

Philippines 114,650 7,670,000 450,000,000

Porto Rico 3,670 8i3'937 150,000,000

Caroline and Sulu Islands* 111,000

Cost of war $ 125,000,000

Loss of commerce 20,000,000

Thirty ships lost 30,000,000

Total financial loss $1,075,000,000

*These are uniniportant, except for naval stations.

Our Martyred President iBi

LOSS OF LIFE.

Killed 2,500

Wounded ^ - 3.000

COST TO THE UNITED STATES.

Over against the enormous losses by Spain we find ours to be the
following :

Battleship Maine $ 2,500,000

Cost of war 200,000,000

Indemnity to Spain 20,000,000

Total $222,500,000

LOSS OF LIFE.

Battleship Maine 266

Killed in action (about) 253

Wounded (about) 1,3^4

Died in camp (a'bout) 2,000

• Total 3'843

These figures do not include tliose who died after being- mustered

out.

CHAPTER XV.

Country Expands and Becomes a World Power.

Senator Thurston, in apprising Governor McKinley of his nomina-
tion for the Presidency, said: "God give you strength so to bear the
honors and meet the duties of that great office for which you are now
nominated, and to which you will be elected, that your administration
will enhance the dignity, and power, and glory of this republic, and
secure the safety, welfare and happiness of its liberty-loving people."

William McKinley seems to have been the chosen servant of the
Almighty, through whom all those things were to be brought about.
Under his administration 124,340 square miles of territory was added
to the public domain, and the country was raised to the rank of a world
power. Before Dewey's guns spoke at Manila, the great powers of the
earth looked upon the United States as a third-rate nation. They mur-
mured somewhat because her enterprise was undermining their com-
merce, but in the main, they held her lightly. Dewey's victory raised
their estimate of the calibre of the people, and when Commodore Schley,
at Santiago, smashed the fleet of the Spanish Admiral Cervera, the world
rubbed its eyes and awoke to the consciousness tliat Brother Jonathan
had grown as big as any member of the national family, and would
have to be respected accordingly.

From the purchase of Alaska, in 1867, down to 1893, there had been
no additions to the public domain. The following table shows the
growth of the country in territory from the beginning of the government :

ANNEXATION FROM 1 783 TO 1893 :

Amount Paid. Square Miles.

Louisiana » $15,000,000 1,171,931

Florida 5,000,000 52,268

Texas 28,500,000 376,133

California 545-783

Gadsden Purchase . 10,500,000 45-535

Alaska 7,200.000 577-390

$66,200,000 2,769,040

18?

Our Martyred President 183

ANNEXATION FROM 1893 TO I9OI.

Amount Paid. Square Miles.

Hawaii 6,740

Philippine Islands $20,000,000 114,000

Porto Rico 3,600

$20,000,000 124,340

Square Miles.

Original territory 827,844

Annexed first 1 10 years 2,769,040

Annexed last three years 124,340

3,721,224

President McKinley was not one of those who believed that the
United States should never extend her power outside of the territory
between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, and the twentieth and fiftieth
parallels of latitude. He believed in the people, in government by the
people, and hence when Hawaii knocked at the doors of the White House
and said, "Let us come in and be members of your family of states," he
lent a ready ear. In his second annual message to congress. President
McKinley said concerning Hawaii :

"Pending the consideration by the senate of the treaty signed June
16, 1897, by the plenipotentiaries of the United States and the republic
of Hawaii, providing for the annexation of the islands, a joint resolu-
tion to accomplish the same purpose by accepting the offered cession
and incorporating the ceded territor}- into the Union was adopted by con-
gress and approved July 7, 1898. I thereupon directed the United States
steamer Philadelphia to convey Rear Admiral Miller to Honolulu, and
intrusted to his hands this important legislative act, to be delivered to
the President of the republic of Hawaii, with whom the admiral and the
United States minister were authorized to make appropriate arrange-
ments for transferring the sovereignty of the islands to the United States.

"This was simply but impressively accomplished on the 12th of
August last by the delivery of a certified copy of the resolution to Presi-i
dent Dole, who thereupon yielded up to the representative of the govern-
ment of the United States the sovereignty and public property of the
Hawaiian islands. •

"Pursuant to the terms of the joint resolution and in exercise of the
authority thereby conferred upon me, I directed that the civil, judicial
and military powers theretofore exercised by the officers of the govern-
ment of the republic of Hawaii should continue to be exercised by those

184 Life of William McKinley

officers until congress shall provide a government for the incorporated
territory, subject to my power to remove such officers and fill vacancies.
The President, officers and troops of the republic thereupon took the
oath of allegiance to the United States, thus providing for the uninter-
rupted continuance of all the administrative and municipal functions of
the annexed territory until congress shall otherwise enact.

"Following the further provisions of the joint resolution, I appointed
the Hon. Shelby M. CuUom, of Illinois; John T. Morgan, of Alabama;
Robert R. Hitt, of Illinois ; Sanford B. Dole, of Hawaii, and Walter B.
Freer, of Hawaii, as commissioners to confer and recommend to con-
gress such legislation concerning the Hawaiian islands as they should
deem necessary or proper. The commissioners having fulfilled the mis-
sion confided to them, their report will be laid before you at an early day.

"It is believed that their recommendations will have the earnest con-
sideration due to the magnitude of the responsibility resting upon you to
give such shape to the relationship of those mid-Pacific lands to our
home union as will benefit both in the highest degree, realizing the aspira-
tions of the community that has cast its lot with us and elected to share
our political heritage, while at the same time justifying the foresight
of those who for three-quarters of a century have looked to the annexa-
tion of Hawaii as a natural and inevitable consummation, in harmony
with our needs and in fulfillment of our cherished traditions.

"The questions heretofore pending between Hawaii and Japan, grow-
ing out of the alleged mistreatment of Japanese treaty immigrants, were,
I am pleased to say, adjusted before the act of transfer by the payment
of a reasonable indemnity to the government of Japan.

"Under the provisions of the joint resolution the existing customs
relations of the Hawaiian islands with the United States and with other
countries remain unchanged until legislation shall otherwise provide.
The consuls of Hawaii here and in foreign countries continue to fulfill
their commercial agencies, while the United States consulate at Hono-
lulu is maintained for all proper services pertaining to trade and the
revenue. It would be desirable that all foreign consuls in the Hawaiian
islands should receive new exequaturs from this government."

Hawaii is, from a naval standpoint, the great strategic base of the
Pacific. Under the present conditions of naval warfare, the result of
the use of steam as a motive power, Hawaii secures to the maritime
nation possessing it, an immense advantage as a depot for the supply of
coal. Possessing Hawaii, the United States is able to advance its line
of defense 2,000 miles from the Pacific coast, and, with a fortified harbor,
and a strong fleet at Honolulu, is in a position to conduct either defensive
or offensive operations in the North Pacific to greater advantage than
any other power.

Our Martyred President 185

For practical purposes, there are eight islands in the Hawaiian group.
The others are mere rocks, of no value at present. These eight islands,
beginning from the northwest, are named Niihau, Kauai, Oahu, Molokai,
Lanai, Kahoolawe, Maui and Hawaii. The areas of the islands are :

Square miles.

Niihau 97

Kauai 590

Oahu 600

Molokai • 270

Maui 760

Lanai 150

Kahoolawe 63

Hawaii > . . . 4,210

Total 6,740

On Oahu is the capital, Honolulu. It is a city numbering 30,000
inhabitants, and is pleasantly situated on the south side of the Island.
The city extends a considerable distance up Nuuanu Valley, and has
wings extending northwest and southeast. Except in the business blocks,
every house stands in its own garden, and some of the houses are very
handsome.

The city is lighted with electric light, there is a complete telephone
system, and tramcars run at short intervals along the principal streets
and continue out to a sea-bathing resort and public park, four miles
from the city. There are numerous stores where all kinds of goods
can be obtained. The public buildings are attractive and commodious.
There are numerous churches, schools, a public library of over 10,000
volumes, Y. M. C. A. Hall, Masonic Temple, Odd Fellows' Hall, and
theater. There is frequent steam communication with San Francisco,
once a month with Victoria (British Columbia), and twice a month
with New Zealand and the Australian colonies. Steamers also connect
Honolulu with Japan. There are three evening daily papers published
in English, one daily morning paper and two weeklies. Besides these,
there are papers published in the Hawaiian, Portuguese, Japanese and
Chinese languages, and also monthly magazines in various tongues.

The population of the Islands, in 1897, consisted of 109,020 persons,
of whom 72,517 were males, and 36,503 females.

The other territory acquired was purely a result of the Spanish war.
Porto Rico came into the Union with little resistance on the part of the
people. They were as anxious, almost, to be rid of Spanish rule, as
were the Cubans, and its 3,600 square miles of territory will one day
be among the fairest States of our Union.

i86 Life of William McKinley

The Philippines were not so ready to receive American rule as were
Hawaii and Porto Rico. No better statement of the Philippine question
will be found than that of President McKinley in his message of Decem-
ber, 1899. He said:

"On the loth of December, 1898, the treaty of peace between the
United States and Spain was signed. It provided, among other things,
that Spain should cede to the United States the archipelago known as
the Philippine Islands, that the United States should pay to Spain tlic
sum of $20,000,000, and that the civil rights and political status of the
native inhabitants of the territories thus ceded to the United States
should be determined by the congress.

"The treaty was ratified by the senate on the 6th of Febuary, 1899,
and by the government of Spain on the 19th of March following. The
ratifications were exchanged on the nth of April, and the treaty publicly
proclaimed. On the 2d day of March the congress voted the sum con-
templated by the treaty, and the amount was paid over to the Spanish
government on the ist day of May.

"In this manner the Philippines came to the United States. The
islands were ceded by the government of Spain, which had been in
undisputed possession of them for centuries. They were accepted not
merely by our authorized commissioners in Paris, under the direction
of the executive, but by the constitutional and well-considered action
of the representatives of the people of the United States in both houses
of congress.

"I had every reason to believe, and I still believe, that this transfer
of sovereignty was in accord with the wishes and the aspirations of the
great mass of the Filipino people, not to make war.

"From the earliest moment no opportunity was lost of assuring the
people of the islands of our ardent desire for their welfare, and of the
intention of this government to do everything possible to advance their
interests. In my order of the 19th of May, 1898, the commander of
the military expedition dispatched to the Philippines was instructed to
declare that we came not to make war upon the people of that country,
"nor upon any party or faction among them, but to protect them in
their homes, in their employments, and in their personal and religious
rights."

THERE TO PRESERVE PEACE.

That there should be no doubt as to the paramount authority there,
on the 17th of August it was directed that "there must be no joint
occupation with the insurgents;" that the United States must preserve
the peace and protect persons and property within the territory occupied
by their military and naval forces; that the insurgents and all others

Our Martyred President 187

must recognize the military occupation and authority of the United
States.

As early as December 4, before the cession, and in anticipation of
that event, the commander in Manila was urged to restore peace and
tranquillity and to undertake the establishment of beneficent govern-
ment, which should afford the fullest security for life and property.

On December 21, after the treaty was signed, the commander of
the forces of occupation was instructed "to announce and proclaim in
the most public manner that we come, not as invaders and conquerors,
but as friends to protect the natives in their liomes, in their employments,
and in their personal and religious rights."

On the same day, while ordering General Otis to see that the peace
should be preserved in Iloilo, he was admonished that : "It is most
important that there should be no conflict with the insurgents." On
tiie I St day of January, 1899, urgent orders were reiterated that the
kindly intentions of this government should be in every possible way
communicated to the insurgents.

THE PHILIPPINE COMMISSION.

On January 21 I announced my intention of dispatching to Manila
a commission composed of three gentlemen of the highest character and
distinction, thoroughly acquainted with the orient, who, in association
with Admiral Dewey and Major-General Otis, were instructed to "facil-
itate the most humane and effective extension of authority throughout
the islands, and to secure with the least possible delay the benefits of a
wise and generous protection of life and property to the inhabitants."

These gentlemen were Dr. Jacob Gould Schurman, president of Cor-
nell University ; Hon. Charles Denby, for many years minister to China,
" and Prof. Dean C. Worcester, of the University of Michigan, who had
made a most careful study of life in the Philippines.

While the treaty of peace was under consideration in the senate
these commissioners set out on their mission of good will and liberation.
Their character was a sufficient guaranty of the beneficent purpose with
which they went, even if they had not borne the positive instructions
of this government, which made their errand pre-eminently one of peace
and friendship.

BLAMES PHILIPPINE LEADERS.

Before their arrival at Manila the sinister ambition of a few leaders
of the Filipinos had created a situation full of embarrassments for us
and most grievous in its consequences to themselves. The clear and
impartial preliminary report of the commissioners, which I transmit
herewith, gives so lucid and comprehensive a history of the present

1 88 Life of William McKinley

insurrectionary movement that the story need not be here repeated.
It is enough to say that the claim of the rebel leader that he was
promised independence by any officer of the United States in return
for his assistance has no foundation in fact and is categorically denied
by the very witnesses who were called to prove it. The most the insur-
gent leader hoped for when he came back to Manila was the liberation
of the islands from Spanish control, which they had been laboring for
years without success to throw off.

THE AMBITION OF AGUINALDO.

The prompt accomplishment of this work by the American army
and navy gave him other ideas and ambitions, and insidious suggestions
from various quarters perverted the purposes and intentions with which
he had taken up arms. No sooner had our army captured Manila than
the Filipino forces began to assume the attitude of suspicion and hos-
tility which the utmost efforts of our officers and troops were unable to
disarm or modify.

Their kindness and forbearance were taken as a proof of cowardice.
The aggressions of the Filipinos continually increased, until finally,
just before the time set by the senate of the United States for a vote
upon the treaty, an attack, evidently prepared in advance, was made
all along the American lines, which resulted in a terribly destructive
and sanguinary repulse of the insurgents.

ORDER FOR A MASSACRE.

Ten days later an order of the insurgent government was issued to
its adherents who had remained in Manila, of which General Otis justly
observes that "for barbarous intent it is unequaled in modern times."

It directs that at 8 o'clock on the night of the 15th of February, the
territorial militia shall come together in the streets of San Pedro, armed
with their bolos, wath guns and ammunition, where convenient; that
Filipino families only sliall be respected; but that all other individuals,
of whatever race they may be, shall be exterminated without any com-
passion, after the extermination of the army of occupation, and adds :

"Brothers, we must avenge ourselves on the Americans and exter-
minate them, that we may take our revenge for the infamies and treach-
eries which they have committed upon us. Have no compassion upon
them; attack with vigor."

A copy of this fell, by good fortune, into the hands of our officers,
and they were able to take measures to control the rising, which was
actually attempted on the night of February 22, a week later than wag
originally contemplated.

Our Martyred President

Considerable numbers of armed insurgents entered the city by water-
ways and swamps, and in concert with confederates inside attempted
to destroy Manila by fire. They were kept in check during the night
and the next day driven out of the city with heavy loss.

WHAT THE COMMISSIONERS FOUND.

This was the unhappy condition of affairs which confronted our
commissioners on their arrival in Manila. They had come with the
hope and intention of co-operating with Admiral Dewey and Major-
General Otis in establishing peace and order in the archipelago and the
largest measure of self-government compatible with the true welfare of
the people. What they actually found can best be set forth in then-
own words :

"Deplorable as war is, the one in which we are now engaged was
unavoidable to us. We were attacTced by a bold, adventurous, and
enthusiastic army. No alternative was left to us, except ignominious
retreat.

"It is not to be conceived of that any American would have sanc-
tioned the surrender of Manila to the insurgents. Our obligations to
other nations and to the friendly .Filipinos and to ourselves and our flag
demanded that force should be met with force. Whatever the future
of the Philippines may be, there is no course open to us now except the
prosecution of the war until the insurgents are reduced to submission.
The commission is of the opinion that there has been no time since the
• destruction of the Spanish squadron by Admiral Dewey when it was
possible to withdraw our forces from the islands, either with honor to
ourselves or with safety to the inhabitants."

THE REBELLION MUST BE PUT DOWN.

The course thus clearly indicated has been unflinchingly pursued.
The rebellion must be put down. Civil government cannot be thor-
oughly established until order is restored. With a devotion and gal-
lantry worthy of its most brilliant history the army, ably and loyally
assisted by the navy, has carried on this unwelcome but most righteous

L campaign with richly deserved success.

- The noble self-sacrifice with which our soldiers and sailors whose

terms of service had expired refused to avail themselves of their right
to return home as long as they were needed at the front, forms one of
the brightest pages in our annals.

I Although their operations have been somewhat interrupted and

I checked by a rainy season of unusual violence and duration, they have

gained ground steadily in every direction, and now look forward confi-
dently to a speedy completion of their task.

1^0 Life of William McKinley

WORK OF RECONSTRUCTION.

The unfavorable circumstances connected with an active campaign
have not been permitted to interfere with the equally important work of
reconstruction. Again I invite your attention to the report of the
commissioners for the interesting and encouraging details of the work
already accomplished in the establishment of peace and order and the
inauguration of self-governing municipal life in many portions of the
archipelago.

GOVERNMENT ESTABLISHED IN NEGROS.

A notable beginning has been made in the establishment of a gov-
ernment in the island of Negros, which is deserving of special considera-
tion. This was the first island to accept American sovereignty. Its
people unreservedly proclaimed allegiance to the United States and
adopted a constitution looking to the establishment of a popular gov-
ernment.

It was impossible to guarantee to the people of Negros that the
constitution so adopted should be the ultimate form of government.
Such a question, under the treaty with Spain, and in accordance with
our own constitution and laws, came exclusively within the jurisdiction
of congress. The government actually set up by the inhabitants of
Negros eventually proved unsatisfactory to the natives themselves. A
new system was put into force b}^ order of the major-general command-
ing the department, of which the following are the most important
elements :

It was ordered that the government of the island of Negros should
consist of a military governor appointed by the United States military
governor of the Philippines, and a civil governor, and an advisory
council elected by the people. The military governor was authorized
to appoint secretaries of the treasury, interior, agriculture, public
instruction, an attorney-general, and an auditor. The seat of govern-
ment was fixed at Bacolor.

The mjlitary governor exercises the supreme executive power. He
is to see that the laws are executed, appoint to office, and fill all vacan-
cies in office not otherwise provided for, and may, with the approval of
the military governor of the Philippines, remove any officer from office.

The civil governor advises the military governor on all public civil
questions and presides over the advisory council. He in general per-
forms the duties which are performed by secretaries of state in our
own system of government.

The advisory council consists of eight members elected by the people
within territorial limits which are defined in the order of the command-
ing general.

Our Martyred President lt)i

VOTING IN NEGROS.

The times and places of holding- elections are to be fixed by the mili-
tary governor of the island of Negros. The qualifications of \oters are
as follows :

I. A voter must be a male citizen of the island of Negros. 2. Of the
age of 21 years. 3. He shall be able to speak, read, and write the Eng-
lish, Spanish, or Visayan language, or he must own real property worth
$500, or pay a rental on real property of the value of $1,000. 4. He
must have resided in the island not less than one year preceding, and in
the district in which he ofi^ers to register as a voter not less than three
months immediately preceding the time he offers to register. 5. He
must register at a time fixed by law before voting. 6. Prior to such
registration he shall have paid all taxes due by him to the government ;
provided, that no insane person shall be allowed to register or vote.

The military governor has the right to veto all bills or resolutions
adopted by the advisory council, and his veto is final if not disapproved
by the military governor of the Philippines.

The advisory council discharges all the ordinary duties of a legis-
lature. The usual duties pertaining to said offices are to be performed
by the secretaries of the treasury, interior, agriculture, public instruc-
tion, the attorney-general, and the auditor.

The judicial power is vested in three judges, who are to be appointed
by the military governor of the island. Inferior courts are to be estab-
lished.

Free public schools are to be established throughout the populous
districts of the island, in which the English language shall be taught,
and this subject will receive the careful consideration of the advisory
council.

The burden of government must be distributed equally and equitably
among the people. The military authorities will collect and receive
the customs revenue and will control postal matters and Philippine
inter-island trade and commerce.

The military governor, subject to the approval of the military gov-
ernor of the Philippines, determines all questions not specifically pro-
vided for and which do not come under the jurisdiction of the advisory
council.

A FEW WORDS ABOUT SULU.

The authorities of the Sulu islands have accepted the succession of
the United States to the rights of Spain, and our flag floats over that
territory. On the loth of August, 1899, Brigadier-General J. C. Bates.
United States Volunteers, negotiated an agreement with the sultan and

ig2 Life of William McKinley

his principal chiefs, which I transmit herewith. By article i, the sov-
ereigntj>^ of the United States over the whole archipelago of Jolo and
its dependencies is declared and acknowledged.

The United States flag will be used in the archipelago and its de-
pendencies, on land and sea. Piracy is to be suppressed, and the sultan
agrees to co-operate heartily with the United States authorities to that
end and to make every possible effort to arrest and bring to justice all
persons engaged in piracy.

All trade in domestic products of the archipelago of Jolo when car-
ried on with any part of the Philippine islands and under the American
flag shall be free, unlimited and undutiable. The United States will
give full protection to the sultan in case any foreign nation should
attempt to impose upon him.

The United States will not sell the island of Jolo or any other island
of the Jolo archipelago to any foreign nation without the consent of the
sultan. Salaries for the sultan and his associates in the administration
of the islands have been agreed upon to the amount of $760 monthly.

P'REEDOM OF SLAVES IN JOLO.

Article X provides that any slave in the archipelago of Jolo shall
have the right to purchase freedom by paying to his master the usual
market value. The agreement by General Bates was made subject to
confirmation by the President and to future modifications by the consent
of the parties in interest. I have confirmed said agreement, subject
to the action of the congress, and with the reservation which I have
directed shall be communicated to the sultan of Jolo, that this agree-
ment is not to be deemed in any way to authorize or give the consent
of the United States to the existence of slavery in the Sulu archipelago.
I communicate these facts to the congress for its information and action.

WINNING THE FILIPINOS.

Everything indicates that with the speedy suppression of the Tagalo
rebellion life in the archipelago will soon resume its ordinary course
under the protection of our sovereignty, and the people of those favored
islands will enjoy a prosperity and a freedom which they have never
before known.

Already hundreds of schools are open and filled with children.

Religious freedom is sacredly assured and enjoyed.

The courts are dispensing justice.

Business is beginning to circulate in its accustomed channels.

Manila, whose inhabitants were fleeing to the country a few months
ago, is now a populous and thriving mart of commerce.

McKINLEY AS FIRST LIEUTENANT TWENTY-THIRD OHIO O. V. I

(Taken December, 1862.)

Our Martyred President 193

The earnest and unremitting endeavors of the commission and the
admiral and major-general commanding the department of the Pacific
to assure the people of the beneficent intentions of this government have
had their legitimate eft'ect in convincing the great mass of them that
peace and safety and prosperity and staple government can only be found
in a loyal acceptance of the authority of the United States.

FUTURE GOVERNMENT OF THE PHILIPPINES RESTS WITH CONGRESS.

The future government of the Philippines rests with the congress of
the United States. Few graver responsibilities have ever been confided
to us.

If we accept them in a spirit worthy of our race and our traditions,
a great opportunity comes with them. The islands lie under the shelter
of our flag. They are ours by every title of law and equity. They can
not be abandoned.

If we desert them we leave them at once to anarchy and finally to
barbarism. We fling them, a golden apple of discord, among the rival
powers, no one of which could permit another to seize them unques-
tioned. Their rich plains and valleys would be the scene of endless
strife and bloodshed.

The advent of Dewey's fleet in Manila bay instead of being, as we
hope, the dawn of a new day of freedom and progress, will have been
the beginning of an era of misery and violence worse than any which
has darkened their unhappy past.

The suggestion has been made that we could renounce our authority
over the islands and, giving them independence, could retain a protec-
torate over them.

A PROTECTORATE NOT DESIRABLE.

This proposition will not be found, I am sure, worthy of your serious
attention. Such an arrangement would involve at the outset a cruel
breach of faith. It would place the peaceable and loyal majority, who
ask nothing better than t6 accept our authority, at the mercy of the
minority of armed insurgents. It would make us responsible for the
acts of the insurgent leaders and give us no power to control them. It
would charge us with the task of protecting them against each other,
and defending them against any foreign power with which they chose to
quarrel. In short, it would take from the congress of the United States
the power of declaring war and vest that tremendous prerogative in the
Tagal leader of the hour.

NO RECOMMENDATION FOR A FINAL FORM OF GOVERNMENT.

It do€s not seem desirable that I should recommend at this time a

194 Life of William McKinley

specific and final form of government for lliese islands. When peace
shall be restored it will be the duty of congress to construct a plan of
government which shall establish and maintain freedom and order and
peace in the Philippines.

The insurrection is still existing, and when it terminates further
information will be required as to the actual condition of affairs before
inaugurating a permanent scheme of civil government. The full report
of the commission, now in preparation, will contain information and
suggestions which will be of value to congress, and which I will trans-
mit as soon as it is completed. As long as the insurrection continues
the military arm must necessarily be supreme. But there is no reason
why steps should not be taken from time to time to inaugurate gov-
ernments essentially popular in their form as fast as territory is held
or controlled by our troops.

MAY SEND BACK THE COMMISSION.

To this end I am considering the advisability of the return of the
commission, or such of the members thereof as can be secured, to aid
the existing authorities and facilitate this work throughout the islands.

I have believed that reconstruction should not begin by the estab-
lishment of one central civil government for all the islands, with its
seat at Manila, but rather that the w^ork should be commenced by build-
ing up from the bottom, first establishing municipal governments and
then provincial governments, a central government at last to follow.

WILL UPHOLD THE SOVEREIGNTY OF THE UNITED STATES.

Until congress shall have made known the formal expression of its
will I shall use the authority vested in me by the constitution and the
statutes to uphold the sovereignty of the United States in these distant
islands as in all other places where our flag rightfully floats.

I shall put at the disposal of the army and navy all the means which
the liberality of congress and the people has provided to cause this
unprovoked and wasteful insurrection to cease.

If any orders of mine were required to insure the merciful conduct of
military and naval operations, they would not be lacking, but every step
of the progress of our troops has been marked by a humanity which has
surprised even the misguided insurgents.

KINDNESS TO FILIPINOS IS IN THE DEFEAT OF AGUINALDO.

The truest kindness to them will be a swift and effective defeat of
their present leader. The hour of victory will be the hour of clemency
and reconstruction.

Our Martyred President 195

No effort will be spared to buikl up the waste places desolated l)y
war and by long years of misgovernment. We shall not wait for the
end of strife to begin the beneficent work. We shall continue, as we
have begun, to open the schools and the churches, to set the courts in
operation, to foster industry, and trade, and agriculture, and in every
way in our power to make these people whom Providence has brought
within our jurisdiction feel that it is their liberty and not our power,
their welfare and not our gain, w'e are seeking to enhance.

OUR FLAG EVER WEAVES IN BLESSING.

Our flag has never waved over any community but in blessing. I
believe the Filipinos wull soon recognize the fact that it has not lost its
gift of benediction in its world-wide journey to their shores.

Since the above message was written, the islands have been almost
wholly tranquilized, and civil government is rapidly being established.

CHAPTER XVI.
Meets the Crisis in China.

The firmness and wisdom with which the President met the trouble
with Spain did not end his experiences in foreign warfare. The crisis
in the affairs of the Chinese empire, which threatened its dismemberment,
engaged his atteytion. Here, as on all other great occasions, the firmness
and honesty of the President was displayed, and to it is in no small
measure due the settlement of questions which threatened the peace
of the civilized world. For a recital of the events attending the rebellion
in China, we turn again to the President's own words. In his message
of December 3, 1900, he said:

'Tn our foreign intercourse the dominant question has been the
treatment of the Chinese problem. Apart from this our relations with
the powers have been happy.

"The recent troubles in China sprang from the anti-foreign agitation
which for the past three years has gained strength in the northern
provinces. Their origin lies deep in the character of the Chinese races
and in the traditions of their government. The Tai-Ping rebellion and
the opening of the Chinese ports to foreign trade and settlement disturbed
alike the homogeneity and the seclusion of China.

Meanwhile foreign activity made itself felt in all quarters, not alone
on the coast, but along the great river arteries and in the remoter dis-
tricts, carrying new ideas and introducing new associations among a
primitive people which had pursued for centuries a national policy of
isolation.

"The telegraph and the railway spreading over their land, the steamers
plying on their waterways, the merchant and the missionary penetrating
year by year farther to the interior, became to the Chinese mind types
of an alien invasion, changing the course of their national life and fraught
with vague forebodings of disaster to their beliefs and their self-control.

"For several years before the present troubles all the resources of
foreign diplomacy, backed by moral demonstrations of the physical force
of fleets and arms, have been needed to secure due respect for the treaty
rights of foreigners and to obtain satisfaction from the responsible

196

Our Martyred President 197

authorities for the sporadic outrages upon the persons and property
of unoffending sojourners, which from time to time occurred at widely
separated points in the northern provinces, as in the case of the outbreaks
in Sze-Chuen and Shan-Tung.

"Posting of anti-foreign placards became a daily occurrence, which
the repeated reprobation of the imperial power failed to check or punish.
These inflammatory appeals to the ignorance and superstition of the
masses, mendacious and absurd in their accusations and deeply hostile
in their spirit, could not but work cumulative harm. They aimed at no
particular class of foreigners ; they were impartial in attacking everything
foreign.

"An outbreak in Shan-Tung, in which German missionaries were
slain, was the too natural result of these malevolent teachings. The post-
ing of seditious placards, exhorting to the utter destruction of foreigners
and of every foreign thing, continued unrebuked. Hostile demonstra-
tions toward the stranger gained strength by organization.

OFFICIALS CULPABLE.

"The sect commonly styled the Boxers de\'eloped greatly in the
provinces north of the Yang- Tse, and with the collusion of many notable
officials, including some in the immediate councils of the throne itself,
became alarmingly aggressive. No foreigner's life, outside of the pro-
tected treaty ports, was safe. No foreign interest was secure from
spoliation.

"The diplomatic representatives of the powers in Peking strove in
vain to check this movement. Protest was followed by demand and
demand by renewed protest, to be met with perfunctory edicts from the
palace and evasions and futile assurances from the tsung-Ii-yamen. The
circle of the Boxer influence narrowed about Peking, and, while nominally
stigmatized as seditious, it was felt that its spirit pervaded the capital
itself, that the imperial forces were imbued with its doctrines, and that
the immediate counselors of the empress dowager were in full sympathy
with the anti-foreign movement.

"The increasing gravity of the conditions in China and the imminence
or peril to our own diversified interests in the empire, as well as to thosQ
of all other treaty governments, were soon appreciated by this govern-
ment, causing it profound solicitude.

AMERICAN RELATIONS WITH CHINA.

"The United States, from the earliest days of foreign intercourse
with China, had followed a policy of peace, omitting no occasions tQ
testify good will, to further the extension of lawful trade, to respect

1^8 Life of William McKinley

the sovereignty of its government, and to insure by all legitimate and
kindly but earnest means the fullest measure of protection for the lives
and property of our law-abiding citizens and for the exercise of their
beneficent callings among the Chinese people.

"JMindful of this, it was felt to be appropriate that our purposes should
be pronounced in favor of such course as would hasten united action of
the powers at Peking to promote the administrative reforms so greatly
needed for strengthening the imperial government and maintaining the
integrity of China, in which we believed the whole western world to be
alike concerned.

"To these ends I caused to be addressed to the several powers occu-
pying territory and maintaining spheres of influence in China the circular
proposals of 1899, inviting from them declarations of their intentions
and views as to the desirability of the adoption of measures insuring
the benefits of equality of treatment of all foreign trade throughout
China.

EARLY NEGOTIATIONS SUCCESSFUL.

"With gratifying unanimity the responses coincided in this common
policy, enabling me to see in the successful termination of these negotia-
tions proof of the friendly spirit which animates the various powers
interested in the untrammeled development of commerce and industry
in the Chinese empire as a source of vast benefit to the whole commercial
world.

"In this conclusion, which I had the gratification to announce as a
completed engagement to the interested powers on INIarch 20, 1900, I
hopefully discerned a potential factor for the abatement of the distrust
of foreign purposes which for a year past had appeared to inspire the
policy of the imperial government, and for the effective exertion by it of
power and authority to quell the critical anti-foreign movement in the
northern provinces most immediately influenced by the INIanchu senti-
ment.

"Seeking to testify confidence in the willingness and al)ility of the
imperial administration to redress the wrongs and prevent the evils we
suffered and feared, the marine guard, which had been sent to Peking
in the autumn of 1899 for the protection of the legation, was withdrawn
at the earliest practicable moment, and all pending questions were re-
mitted, as far as we were concerned, to the ordinary reports of diplomatic
intercourse.

"The Chinese government proved, however, unable to check the
rising strength of the Boxers and appeared to be a prey to internal dissen-
sions.

Our Martyred President 199

TUAN TPIE LEADER.

In the unequal contest the anti-foreign influences soon gained the as-
cendency under the leadership of Prince Tuan. Organized armies of
Boxers, with which the imperial forces affiliated, held the country
between Peking and the coast, penetrated into Manchuria up to the
Russian border, and through their emissaries threatened a like rising
throughout northern China.

"Attacks upon foreigners, destruction of their property, and slaughter
of native converts were reported from all sides. The tsung-li-yamen,
already permeated with hostile sympathies, could make no effective re-
sponse to the appeals of the legations. At this critical juncture, in the
early spring of this year, a proposal was made by the other powers that
a combined fleet should be assembled in Chinese waters as a moral dem-
onstration, under cover of which to exact of the Chinese government re-
spect for foreign treaty rights and the suppression of the Boxers.

The United States, while not participating in the joint demonstra-
tion, promptly sent from the Philippines all ships that could be spared for
service on the Chinese coast. A small force of marines was landed at
Taku and sent to Peking for the protection of the American legation.
Other powers took similar action, until some 400 men were assembled
in the capital as legation guards.

"Still the peril increased. The legations reported the development
of the seditious movement in Peking and the need of increased provision
for defense against it. While preparations were in progress for a larger
expedition, to strengthen the legation guards and keep the railway open,
an attempt of the foreign ships to make a landing at Taku was met by a
fire from the Chinese forts.

"The forts were thereupon shelled by the foreign vessels, the Amer-
ican admiral taking no part in the attack, on the ground that we were
not at war with China and that a hostile demonstration might consoli-
date the anti-foreign elements and strengthen the Boxers to oppose the
relieving column.

"Two days later the Taku forts were captured after a sanguinary con-
flict. Severance of communication with Peking followed, and a combined
force of additional guards, which was advancing to Peking by the Pei-Ho
was checked at Lang Fang. The isolation of the legations was complete.

"The siege and the relief of the legations have passed into undying
history. In all the stirring chapter which records the heroism of the
devoted band, clinging to hope in the face of despair, and the undaunted
spirit that led theh" relievers through battle and sufifering to the goal,
it is a memory of which my countrymen may be justly proud that the
honor of our flag was maintained alike in the siege and the rescue, and

200 Life of William McKinley

that stout American hearts have again set high, in fervent emulation with
true men of other race and language, the indomitable courage that ever
strikes for the cause of right and justice.

MURDER OF VON KETTELER.

"By June 19 the legations were cut off. An identical note from the
yamen ordered each minister to leave Peking, under a promised escort,
within twenty-four hours. To gain time they replied, asking prolonga-
tion of the time, which was afterward granted, and requesting an inter-
view wuth the tsung-li-yamen on the following day.

''No reply being received, on the morning of the 20th the German
minister, Baron von Ketteler, set out for the yamen to obtain a response,
and on the way was murdered.

"An attempt by the legation guard to recover his body was foiled by
the Chinese. Armed forces turned out against the legations. Their
quarters were surrounded and attacked. The mission compounds were
abandoned, their inmates taking refuge in the British legation, where
all other legations and guards gathered for more effective defense.
Four hundred persons were crowded in its narrow compass. Two thou-
sand native converts were assembled in a near by palace under protection
of the foreigners. Lines of defense were strengthened, trenches dug,
barricades raised, and preparations made to stand a siege, which at once
began.

QUOTES conger's REPORT.

" 'From June 29 until July 17,' writes Minister Conger, 'there was
scarcely an hour during which there was not firing upon some part of
our lines and into some of the legations, varying from a single shot
to a general and continuous attack along the whole line.'

"Artillery was placed around the legations and on the overlooking
palace walls, and thousands of three-inch bullets and shell were fired,
destroying some buildings and damaging all. So thickly did the balls
rain that, when the ammunition of the besieged ran low, five quarts of
Chinese bullets were gathered in an hour in one compound and recast.

"Attempts were made to burn the legations by setting neighboring-
houses on fire, but the flames were successfully fought off, although the
Austrian, Belgian, Italian, and Dutch legations were then and sub-
sequently burned. With the aid of the native converts, directed by the
missionaries, to whose helpful co-operation Mr. Conger awards unstinted
praise, the British legation was made a veritable fortress. The British
minister, Sir Claude Macdonald, was chosen general commander of the
defense, with the secretary of the American legation, E. G. Squires, as
chief of staff.

Our Martyred President 201

"To save life and ammunition the besieged sparingly returned the in-
cessant fire of the Chinese soldiery, fighting only to rej^el attack or make
an occasional successful sortie for strategic advantage, such as that of
fifty-five Americans, British, and Russian marines led by Captain Myers
of the United States Marine corps, which resulted in the capture of a
formidable barricade on the wall that gravely menaced the American
position. It was held to the last, and proved an invaluable acquisition,
because commanding the water gate through ^\4lich the relief column
entered.

"During the siege the defenders lost sixty-fivejs;illed, 135 wounded,
and seven by disease — the last all children.

"On July 14 the besieged had their first communication with the
tsung-li-yamen, from whom a message came inviting to a conference,
which was declined. Correspondence, however, -ensued, and a sort of
armistice was agreed upon, wdiich stopped the bombardment and lessened
the rifle fire for a time. Even then no protection whatever was afforded,
nor any aid given, save to send to the legations a small supply of fruit
and three sacks of flour.

IMPERIAL TROOPS GUILTY.

"Indeed, the only communication had with the Chinese government
related to the occasional delivery or dispatch of a telegram or to the de-
mands of the tsung-li-yamen for the withdrawal of the legation to the
coast under escort. Not only are the protestations of the Chinese govern-
ment that it protected and succored the legations positively contradicted,
but irresistible proof accumulates that the attacks upon them were made
by the imperial troops, regularly uniformed, armed, and officered, belong-
ing to the command of Jung Lu, the imperial commander-in-chief.

"Decrees encouraging the Boxers, organizing them under prominent
imperial officers, provisioning them, and even granting them large sums
in the name of the empress dowager, are known to exist. Members of
the tsung-li-yamen who counseled protection of the foreigners were be-
headed. Even in the distant provinces men suspected of foreign sym-
])athy were put to death, prominent among these being Chang- Yen-Hoon,
formerly Chinese minister in Washington.

"With the negotiation of the partial armistice of July 14, a pro-
ceeding which was doubtless promoted 15y the representations of tho
Chinese envoy in Washington, the way was opened for the conveyance
to Mr. Conger of a test message sent by the secretary of state through
the kind offices of Minister Wu-Ting-Fang. Mr. Conger's reply dis-
patched from Peking on July 18 through the same channel, afforded

202 Life of William McKinley

to the outside world the first tidings that the inmates of the legations
were still ahve and hoping for succor.

'This news stimulated the preparations for a joint relief expedition
in numbers sufficient to overcome the resistance which for a month had
been organizing between Taku and the capital. Re-inforcements sent by
all the co-operating governments were constantly arriving. The United
States contingent, hastily assembled from the Philippines or dispatched
from this country, amounted to some 5,000 men, under the able command
first of the lamented Col. Liscum and afterward of Gen. Chaffee.

"Toward the end of July the movement began. A severe conflict
followed at Tientsin, in which Col. Liscum was killed. The city was
stormed and partly destroyed. Its capture afforded the base of operations
from which to make the final advan.ce, which began in the first days of
August, the expedition being made up of Japanese, Russian, British and
American troops at the outset.

''Another battle was fought and won at Yang Tsun. Thereafter the
disheartened Chinese troops offered little show of resistance. A few
days later the important position of Ho-Si-Woo w^as taken. A rapid
march brought the united forces to the populous city of Tung Chow,
which capitulated v;ithout a contest.

"On August 14 the capital was reached. After a brief conflict be-
neath the walls the relief column entered and the legations were saved.

"The United States soldiers, sailors and marines, officers and men
alike, in those distant climes and unusual surroundings, showed the same
valor, discipline and good conduct and gave proof of the same high de-
gree of intelligence and efficiency which have distinguished them in
every emergency.

"The imperial family and the government had fled a few days be-
fore. The city was without visible control. The remaining imperial sol-
diery had made on the night of the 13th a last attempt to exterminate
the besieged, which was gallantly repelled. It fell to the occupying
forces to restore order and organize a provisional administration.

"Happily the acute disturbances v/ere confined to the northern prov-
inces. It is a relief to recall and a pleasure to record the loyal conduct
of the viceroys and local authorities (jf the southern and eastern prov-
inces.

"Their efforts were contiguously directed to the pacific control of the
vast populations under their rule and to the scrupulous observance of
foreign treaty rights.

"At critical moments they did not hesitate to memorialize the throne,
urging the protection of the legations, the restoration of communication
and the assertion of the imperial authority against the subversive ele-

Our Martyred President 203

ments. They maintained excellent relations with the official representa-
tives of foreign powers. To their kindly disposition is largely due the
success of the consuls in removing many of the missionaries from the
interior to places of safety. In this relation the action of tlie consuls
should be highly commended. In Shan-Tung and eastern Chi-Li the task
was difficult, but, thanks to their energy and the co-operation of Ameri-
can and foreign naval commanders, hundreds of foreigners, including
those of other nationalities than ours, were rescued from imminent peril.

UNITED STATES POLICY UNCHANGED.

"The policy of the United States through all this trying period was
clearly announced and scrupulously carried out. A circular note to the
powers dated July 3 proclaimed our attitude. Treating the condition in
the north as one of virtual anarchy, in which the great provinces of the
south and southeast liad no share, we regarded the local authorities in the
latter quarters as representing the Chinese people with whom we sought
to remain in peace and friendship.

"Our declared aims involved no war against the Chinese nation. We
adhered to the legitimate office of rescuing the imperiled legation, ob-
taining redress for wrongs already suffered, securing wherever possible
the safety of American life and property in China, and preventing a
spread of the disorders or their recurrence.

"As was then said, 'the policy of the government of the United States
is to seek a solution which may bring about permanent safety and peace
to China, preserve Chinese territorial and administrative entity, protect all
rights guaranteed to friendly powers by treaty and international law,
and safeguard for the world the principle of equal and impartial trade
with all parts of the Chinese empire.'

"Faithful to those professions which, as it proved, reflected the views
and purposes of the other co-operating governments, all our efforts have
been directed toward ending the anomalous situation in China by nego-
tiations for a settlement at the earliest ]X)ssible moment. As soon as the
sacred duty of relieving our legation and its dependents was accomplished
we withdrew from active hostilities, leaving our legation under an ade-
quate guard at Peking as a channel of negotiation and settlement — a
course adopted by others of the interested powers. Overtures of the
empowered representatives of the Chinese emperor have been consid-
erably entertained.

"The Russian proposition looking to the restoration of imperial
power in Peking has been accepted as in full consonance with our own de-
sires, for we have held, and hold, that effective reparation for wTongs
suffered, and an enduring settlement that will make their recurrence im-

204 Life of William McKinley

possible, can best be brought about under an authority which the Chinese
nation reverences and obeys. While so doing we forego no jot of our un-
doubted right to exact exemplary and deterrent punishments of the re-
sponsible authors and abettors of the criminal acts whereby we and other
nations must have suffered grievous injury.

MUST PUNISH CULPRITS.

"For the real culprits, the evil counselors who have misled the im-
perial judgment and diverted the sovereign authority to their own guilty
ends, full explanation becomes imperative within the rational limits of
retributive justice. Regarding this as the initial condition of an accept-
able settlement between China and the powers, I said in my message of
October i8 to the Chinese emperor :

"I trust that negotiations may begin so soon as we and the other of-
fended governments shall be effectively satisfied of your majesty's ability
and power to treat with just sternness the principal offenders, who are
doubly culpable, not only toward the foreigners, but toward your maj-
esty, under whose rule the purpose of China is to dwell in concord with
the world had hitherto found expression in the welcome and protection
assured to strangers.

"Taking, as a point of departure, the imperial edict appointing Earl
Li Hung Chang and Prince Ching plenipotentiaries to arrange a settle-
ment, and the edict of Sept. 25, whereby certain high officials were
designated for punishment, this government has moved, in concert with
the other powers, toward the opening of negotiations, which Mr. Conger,
assisted by Mr. Rockhill. has been authorized to conduct on behalf of the
United States.

"General bases of negotiation formulated by the government of the
French republic have been accepted with certain reservations as to details,
made necessary by our own circumstances, but, like similar reservations
by other powers, open to discussion in the progress of the negotiations.
The disposition of the emperor's government to admit liability for wrongs
done to foreign governments and their nationals, and to act upon such
additional designation of the guilty persons as the foreign ministers at
Peking may be in a position to make, gives hope of a complete settlement
of all questions involved, assuring foreign rights of residence and inter-
course on terms of equality for all the world.

"I regard as one of the essential factors of a durable adjustment the
securement of adequate guarantees for liberty of faith, since insecurity
of those natives who may embrace alien creeds is a scarcely less effectual
assault upon the rights of foreign worship and teaching than would be
the direct invasion thereof.

Our Martyred President 205

'The matter of indemnity for our wronged citizens is a question of
grave concern. Measured in money alone, a sufficient reparation may
prove to be beyond the abihty of China to meet. All the powers concur in
emphatic disclaimers of any purpose of aggrandizement through the dis-
memberment of the empire.

"I am disposed to think that due compensation may be made in part
by increased guarantees of security for foreign rights and immunities,
and, most important of all, by the opening of China to the equal com-
merce of all the w^orld. These views have been and will be earnestly ad-
vocated by our representatives.

"The government of Russia has put forward a suggestion that in the
event of protracted divergence of views in regard to indemnities the
matter may be relegated to the court of arbitration at The Hague. I
favorably incline to this, believing that high tribunal could not fail to
reach a solution no less conducive to the stability and enlarged prosperity
of China itself than immediately beneficial to the powers."

From the first invasion of China by foreign troops, the president pro-
nounced firmly against any settlement of the trouble which included a
partition of the empire. It was believed that such an act was contem
plated by some of the European nations, and President McKinley made it
clear that such a thing could never be consummated with the consent of
this government. As a result of this stand a settlement was reached,
which is believed to have been just and honorable to all.

CHAPTER XVII.

Renominated and Re-Elected President.

Four years of William McKinley's rule had worked wonders for
the American republic. Before his election there had been lethargy in
commercial circles. Industry had been circumscribed, prices were low,
and money was scarce. Immediately upon the announcement of his
election, the material condition of the country began to improve. Capi-
tal came out of its hiding place. The captains of industry took their
place in the ranks, and the prosperity of which he had talked during the
summer of 1896, at Canton, began to dawn.

Before the end of his first term, the country had been placed on a
sound financial basis, the question of tariffs had been adjusted to the
satisfaction of the majority of tlie people, a great war had been fought,
and by far the greater number of the victorious armies had returned to
pursuits of peace. More than one hundred thousand square miles of
territory had been added to the country, and the administration was en-
gaged in establishing government over these new sections, and providing
for the welfare of their peoples.

Under such circumstances there was only one name mentioned for
the presidency among republicans in 1900, and that was William Mc-
Kinley.

The convention met in Philadelphia, June 19. It was called to order
by Senator M. A. Hanna, chairman of the national committee, amidst
the greatest enthusiasm. There were 906 delegates, and they shouted
with an exuberance rarely heard apart from such a gathering. In his
opening remarks. Chairman Hanna said : "We are now forming our
battalions under the leadership of our general, William McKinley," and
a roar arose that continued for several minutes. He then introduced
Senator Wolcott, of Colorado, as temporary chairman of the conven-
tion. In his address, Senator Wolcott said :

"The spirit of justice and liberty that animated our fathers found
voice three-quarters of a century later in this same City of Brotherly
Love, when Fremont led tlie forlorn hope of united patriots who laid
here the foundation of our party, and put human freedom as its corner-
stone. It compelled our ears to listen to the cry of suffering across the
shallow waters of the gulf two years ago. While we observe the law

206

Our Martyred President loy

of nations and maintain that neutrality which we owe to a great and
friendly government, the same spirit lives today in the genuine sympa-
thy we cherish for the bra\^e men now fighting for their homes in the
veldts of South Africa. It prompts us in our determination to give
the dusky races of tlie Pliilippines the blessings of good government
and republican institutions, and finds voice in our indignant protest
against the violent suppression of the rights of the colored men in the
south. That spirit will survive in the breasts of patriotic men as long
as the nation endures, and the events of the past have taught us that it
can find its fair and free and full expression only in the principles and
policy of the republican party.

"The first and pleasant duty of this great convention, as well as its
instinctive impulse, is to send a message of affectionate greeting to our
leader and our country's president, William McKinley. In all that
pertains to our welfare in times of peace his genius has directed us. He
has shown an unerring mastery of the economic problems which con-
front us, and has guided us out of the slough of financial disaster, im-
paired credit, and commercial stagnation, up to the high and safe ground
of national prosperity and financial stability. Through the delicate and
trying events of the late war he stood firm, courageous and conserva-
tive, and under his leadership we emerged triumphant, our national
honor untarnished, our credit unassailed, and the equal devotion of every
section of our common country to the welfare of the reiDublic, cemented
forever. Never in the memory of this generation has there stood at
the head of the government a truer patriot, a wiser or more courageous
leader, or a better example of the highest type of American manhood.
The victories of peace and the victories of war are alike inscribed upon
his banner."

The second day's proceedings of the convention introduced Senator
H. C. Lodge, of Massachusetts, as the permanent chairman of the body.
Twenty thousand people attended the session, in the expectation that
President McKinley would be renominated, but for the time being they
v/ere disappointed. In his opening speech Chairman Lodge said :

"Dominant among the issues of four years ago was that of our mone-
tary and financial system. The republican party promised to uphold our
credit, to protect our currency from revolution and to maintain the gold
standard. We have done so. Failing to secure, after honest effort,
any encouragement for international bimetallism, we have passed a law
strengthening the gold standard and planting it more firmly than ever
in our financial system, improving our banking laws, buttressing our
credit, and refunding the public debt at 2 per cent interest, the lowest
rate in the w^orld. It was a great work well done."

Concerning the war with Spain he said :

2o8 Life of William McKinley

"Here they are, these great feats : A war of a hundred days, with
many victories and no defeats, with no prisoners taken from us, and no
advance stayed ; with a triumphant outcome startUng in its completeness
and in its world-wide meaning. Was ever a war more justly entered
upon, more quickly fought, more fully won, more thorough in its results ?
Cuba is free. Spain has been driven from the Western hemisphere.
Fresh glory has come to our arms and crowned our flag. It was the
work of the American people, but the republican party was their instru-
ment.

"So much for the past. We are proud of it, but we do not expect to
live upon it, for the republican party is pre-eminently the party of action,
and its march is ever forward. The deeds of yesterday are in their turn
a pledge and proof that what we promise we perform, and that the peo-
ple who put faith in our declarations in 1896 were not deceived, and may
place the same trust in us in 1900. But our pathway has never lain
among dead issues, nor have we won our victories and made history by
delving in political graveyards.

"We are the party of today, with cheerful yesterdays and confident
tomorrows. The living present is ours; the present of prosperity and
activity in business, of good wages and quick payments, of labor em-
ployed and capital invested ; of sunshine in the market-place and the stir
of abounding life in the workshop and on the farm. It is with this
that we have replaced the depression, the doubts, the dull business, the
low wages, the idle labor, the frightened capital, the dark clouds which
overhung industry and agriculture in 1896. This is what we would
preserve, so far as sound government and wise legislation can do it.
This is what we offer now."

In such an atmosphere of optimism the convention proceeded to
adopt the platform on which the candidate should ask the suffrages of
the American electorate. That document set forth that four years
before —

"When the people assembled at the polls after a term of democratic
legislation and administration, business was dead, industry was para-
lyzed, and the national credit disastrously impaired. The country's
capital was hidden away and its labor distressed and unemployed.

"The democrats had no other plan with which to improve the ruin-
ous conditions, which they had themselves produced, than to coin silver
at the ratio of 16 to i. The republican party, denouncing this plan
as sure to produce conditions even w^orse than those from which relief
was sought, promised to restore prosperity by means of two legislative
measures — a protective tariff and a law making gold the standard of
value.

BREVET BRIGADIER-GENERAL SAMUEL FALLOWS

Our Martyred President 209

'*The people, by great majorities, issued to the republican party a
commission to enact these laws. This commission has been executed,
and the republican promise is redeemed. Prosperity, more general and
more abundant than we have ever known, has followed these enact-
ments. There is no longer controversy as to the value of any govern-
ment obligations. Every American dollar is a gold dollar, or its assured
equivalent, and American credit stands higher than that of any other
nation. Capital is fully employed and everywhere labor is profitably
occupied.

"We endorse the administration of William McKinley. Its acts
have been established in wisdom and in patriotism, and at home and
abroad it has distinctly elevated and extended the influence of the Ameri-
can nation. Walking untried paths and facing unforeseen responsi-
bilities, President McKinley has been in every situation the true Ameri-
can patriot, and the upright statesman, clear in vision, strong in judg-
ment, firm in action, always inspiring, and deserving the confidence of
his countrymen."

The platform further declared in favor of a renewal of "allegiance
to the principle of the gold standard" ; of a law to effectually restrain
and prevent all conspiracies and combinations intended to restrict busi-
ness, to create monopolies, to limit production or to control prices; the
protection policy was endorsed, and legislation in favor of the interests
of workingmen advocated ; help to American shipping, pensions for sol-
diers, maintenance of the civil service system, construction of an isthmian
canal, and endorsement of the treaty of Paris were also favored.

This brought the convention to its third and last day's session, and it
was a veritable love feast. Factional fights and all friction as to policy
had been swept away. All that was now necessary was the naming of
the ticket. Twenty thousand people again crowded the convention hall,
and the great building was shaken again and again by the enthusiastic
applause of the multitude.

Alabama yielded to Ohio when the call of states began, and Senator
Foraker, to whom had been accorded the honor of nominating the
president, arose and said :

"Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Convention : Alabama yields
to Ohio, and I thank Alabama for that accommodation. Alabama has
so yielded, however, by reason of a fact that would seem in an important
sense to make the duty that has been assigned to me a superfluous duty,
for Alabama has yielded because of the fact that our candidate for the
presidency has in fact been already nominated. He was nominated
by the distinguished senator from Colorado when he assumed the duties
of temporary chairman. He was nominated again yesterday by the

210 Life of William McKinley

distinguished senator from Massachusetts, when he took the office of
permanent chairman, and he was nominated for a third time when the
senator from Indiana yesterday read us the platform.

"And not only has he been nominated b}^ this convention, but he was
also nominated by the whole American people. From one end pf this
land to the other, in every mind, only one and the same man is thought
of for the honor which we are now about to confer, and that man is the
first choice of every other man who wishes republican success next
November. Upon this account, it is indeed not necessary for me or
anyone else to speak for him here or elsewhere. He has already spoken
for himself, and to all the world.

"He has a record replete with brilliant achievements; a record that
speaks at once both his performances and his highest energy. It com-
prehends both peace and war, and constitutes the most striking illustra-
tion possible of triumphant and inspiring fidelity and success in the dis-
charge of public duty."

The nomination was seconded by Governor Roosevelt, Senator Thur-
ston, John W. Yerkes, of Kentucky, George Knight, of California, and
Governor Mount, of Indiana. When Senator Foraker pronounced the
name of the president, there was a great demonstration on the part of
the convention. Someone threw into the delegate's division a great
bundle of red, white and blue plumes, made of pampas grass. The dele-
gates caught them up, and with flags, handkerchiefs and state banners
waving, shouted themselves hoarse. The whole convention, 906 dele-
gates, voted for President McKinley.

Then came the nomination for vice-president. The wisdom of the
convention had decided on Governor Roosevelt, and all other candidates
had withdrawn from the confest. Though strongly against his inclina-
tion, the governor had agreed to accept the position. Colonel Lafayette
Young, of Iowa, nominated the governor, and Butler Murray, of Massa-
chusetts, Gen. J. M. Ashton, of Wisconsin, and Senator Depew, of New
York, seconded the nomination. At the close of the convention. Senator
Depew said :

"We have the best ticket ever presented. We have at the head of it
a western man with eastern notions, and we have at the other end, an
eastern man with western character — the statesman and the cowboy, the
accomplished man of affairs, and the heroic fighter. The man who has
proved great as president, and the fighter who has proved great as gov-
ernor. We leave this old town simply to keep on shouting and work-
ing to make it unanimous for McKinley and for Roosevelt."

The democrats again nominated William J. Bryan, but the country
was not more ready to accept this young man than it had been in 1896.

♦

Our Martyred President ^il

In fact, he secured fewer votes than had been given him in his previous
race. President McKinley secured 7,208,244, against 6,358,789 for Mr.
Bryan. In the electoral college the vote stood, President McKinley,
292; Mr. Bryan, 155.

Amidst the applause of admiring thousands, President McKinley,
for the second time, took the oath of office, March 4, 1901. He retained
his former cabinet ministers, and was steadfastly carrying out the great
work he ha,d begun when he was stricken down by the bullets of the
assassin.

CHAPTER XVIII.

Anecdotes and Incidents in McKinley's Life.

RESPECT FOR THE SABBATH.

He had for the observance of the Sabbath the most profound respect.
At one time during the presidential campaign a large party of visitors,
who had arrived in Canton on Sunday morning, sent a message to Mr.
McKinley, stating that they would call upon him accompanied by a band
of music. He sent word in reply : "This is the Sabbath day and I
cannot receive delegations, much would I have you to come with a band
of music on the Sabbath. I cannot, in any event, see you this morning,
for I must go to church. I attend the First Methodist Episcopal church
and would advise you to be present, and then if you really desire to call
during the day, and care to drop into my home individually, or one or
two at a time, for the purpose of receiving a friendly greeting, all right,
but you must not come as a delegation."

SUNDAY BEFORE INAUGURATION.

An interesting incident occurred the last Sunday Mr. McKinley
spent in Canton before going to Washington to be inaugurated Presi-
dent. He requested his pastor some days in advance to preach on that
Sunday, as he did not wish to have a stranger indulge in words of
eulogy to him. He said : "I want my own pastor to preach the last
Sunday before I go to Washington." Once he said: 'Tf you or any
one else should begin to gush over me, I would get up and leave the
church." The hymn sung on that occasion was No. 602 in the Methodist
hymn-book :

"It may not be our lot to wield
The sickle in the ripened field;
Nor ours to hear, on summer eves
The reaper's song among the sheaves.

"Yet where our duty's task is wrought
In unison with God's great thought
The near and future blend in one,
And whatsoever is willed, is done.

212

Our Martyred President 213

"And ours the greatful service whence
Comes, day by day, the recompense;
The hope, the trust, ihe purpose stayed,
The fountain, and the noonday shade.

"And were this life the utmost span,
The only end and aim of man.
Better the toil of fields like these
Than waking dream and slothful ease."

Mr. McKinley was so pleased with the sentiment of the hymn that
the next day he asked the board of trustees, as a special favor, to give
him the copy of the book from which he sang the day before, saying
that he had marked that hymn and that he would like to have that
particular book.

MEETING A CRISIS ON A BATTLE FIELD.

It is a very dangerous thing for a military man to disobey or change
the orders of his commanding officer. But a true soldier, who has later
acquired information which such officer does not possess, and which if
known would cause a modification of his orders, must be disobedient and
take the consequences. Captain McKinley was such a soldier.

It was at the battle of Opequan, fought near Winchester, Va., Sep-
tember 19, 1864. Captain McKinley was acting as an aide-de-camp on
the staff of General Sheridan and General Deval was commandine
the second division. General Crook sent McKinley with a verbal order
to General Deval, commanding Jiim to move quickly by a certain road
and take his position on the right of the Sixth corps. In going to
General Deval, McKinley took this road, through a ravine, and found
it almost blockaded with broken wagons, dead horses and fallen trees.
It was with difficulty that he could get through and, when he reached
Deval and delivered his order as given him, he added : "But, General,
I have come over that road and it is so obstructed that an army could
not move that way quickly enough to be of any service. There is another
route, by which I am sure you could reach the place assigned you and
I suggest that you take that one."

General Deval was a trained soldier and felt the responsibility of
his position too much to disobey an order from his superior officer,
even in the letter, but he saw the force of McKinley's suggestion. He
hesitated as to what to do, and then said : "Captain, I must obey Gen-
eral Crook's order to the letter. What road did he say I should take?"

It was the captain's time to hesitate. He saw that General Deval 's
idea of military discipline would compel him to follow the order to

214 -^^^^ ^^ William McKinley

the letter, and he knew, from his own experience, that an army could
nat move along that route and reach his position in time to be of
service. He answered : "General Deval, General Crook commands you
to move your division along this road (mentioning the one he had sug-
gested and take up your position on the right of the Sixth corps."
General Deval accepted the order and, moving his command as directed,
was able to reach his new position in time to be of great service in driv-
ing the enemy from their fortified position and saving the Union troops
from defeat.

When Captain McKinley reported to General Crook what he had
done, the general looked at him in amazement as he asked : "Did you
fully understand the risk you took in changing the order you were in-
trusted to dehver to General Deval?"

"I did," was the captain's reply.

"Did you know that you were liable to be court-martialed and
dismissed from the service, and, had it led to disaster, shot as a
traitor?"

"I did, general, but I was willing to take that risk to save the
battle."

General Crook looked the young captain in the eyes for a minute
and saw that he was dealing with a man who had the courage to put
aside technicalities and do his duty as judgment and conscience and
absolute personal knowledge of the situation dictated, without regard to
the consequences, and he said :

"Captain, you have saved the battle, and you are a brave man; but
I would not advise you to take such risks again, as, in case of failure,
even the officer who received the command, to do his duty in the light
of your knowledge, the blame would rest upon you alone."

Mckinley's first law case.

It was a suit of replevin and McKinley received $25 for his work.
He was at the time a student in the law office of Judge George W.
Belden. He had been admitted to the bar, but having no clients, was
still reading law in Belden's office. One day the old judge came in
and said to McKinley :

"William, I want you to try the Blank case for me tomorrow. I
find that I will not be able to attend it."

"But, judge," said McKinley, "I don't know anything about it. I
have never tried a case in my life. I am afraid I can't do it."

"Oh, yes, you can," said the judge. "You have got to do it. I
must go away and that case is sure to come up. Here are the papers,"
and with that the judge threw a lot of papers on the table beside Mc-
Kinley and left.

Our Martyred President 215

McKinley took up the case and went into it. He sat up all night
and worked at it. At 10 o'clock next day he was on hand, when the
court opened. He took the place of Judge Belden, made an argument
and won the case. As he was speaking he happened to look at the
back of the court room and there he saw Judge Belden sitting. This
seemed rather queer to him, but he afterward found that Belden had
put up the job to test what he could do as a lawyer. The next day
tlie judge came into the office and said to McKinley: "Well, William
you've won the case and here is your fee." As he said this he took
out his pocketbook and handed McKinley $25.

"But," said young McKinley, "I can't take that, judge. It was
only a night's work. It ain't worth it and I can't take it," and with
that he offered the bill to the judge.

"Oh, yes, you can," was the reply. "You have earned the money
■and you must take it. Besides it is all right. I shall charge my client
$100 for the work and it is only right that you should have this $25."
This argument overcame McKinley's scruples and he took the money.

MADE A MINISTER OUT OF A BAD PAGE.

When Mr. McKinley was a congressman there was among the pages
in the house of representatives one boy who was considered to be a most
incorrigible lad. And he was, at the same time, very bright. His mind
occupied itself in plotting mischief, which he carried out with spirit.
He was impertinent to a degree; he swore with a fluency never heard
before and his battles with his companions were of daily occurrence.
He was attractive — so attractive that his influence with the other boys
was very great. There was danger that the whole company of boys
would become demoralized, and the only remedy seemed to lie in dis-
missal. He had often been reprimanded, so when he was called before
the authorities and informed of his dismissal he was stunned.

Mr. McKinley had liked the boy in spite of the fact that he seemed
to be a little degenerate, and when he learned that the lad had been
discharged he sent for him. After a long talk the future President
begged that the boy be given another chance, and, much subdued,
the page again took his place in the house. This was the beginning'
of the little drama of reformation. The boy was not all bad. He
was grateful and Mr. McKinley made his good behavior a personal
favor to himself. At first the boy tried to do well because it pleased
Mr. McKinley, and then, because he was possessed of a strength that
would not lead him to do anything by halves, he became as enthusiastic
for good as he had been for evil. Time went on, and through Mr.
McKinley's influence, he joined the church and, later still, with the

2i6 Life of William McKinley

encouragement of his friend, he studied for the ministry. He is now
a clergyman, doing splendid work in the far west. He was made a
minister by the President of the United States.

HIS POPULARITY WITH THE NEWSBOYS.

While governor of Ohio, Mr. McKinley walked to and from the
statehouse daily. These trips were watched for by the newsboys of
Columbus, to whom they meant a golden harvest. No matter what
the paper or its politics, the governor made an invariable practice of
purchasing a supply from each and every newsboy who cropped up
in his path or besieged him as he walked up and down the statehouse
steps.

One very stormy day the governor emerged from the statehouse
on his homeward trip, accompanied by a friend, who urged, in view
of the storm and sleet, that the governor get home quickly and avoid
the newsboys.

"No!" said the governor, "this stormy day they need me to buy
their papers more than any other time. Another thing is, they will
look for me, and I do not mean to disappoint them."

This was his method of distributing help to the boys willing to
work for their living and who would not have liked the idea of re-
ceiving charity.

DUTY TO COUNTRY ABOVE SELF.

After the destruction of the United States battleship Maine, in
Havana harbor, almost every prominent leader in the Republican party,
almost every Republican member of Congress, almost every newspaper
was crowding President IMcKinley to take radical action upon the Cuban
question. His message proposing armed intevention was written, sub-
mitted to the cabinet and approved. It was all ready to send to an
impatient congress, which had given notice through its committees that
unless the President did something before a certain date the independ-
ence of Cuba would be recognized and war declared. While the cabinet
was in session, Assistant Secretary Day entered with a cablegram from
Consul-General Lee advising the department of state that it would be
impossible for all the United States consuls to leave Cuba within less
than ten days, and asking that if radical measures were taken, the con-
suls in Cuba might be assassinated or the consulates mobbed. When
the President read that dispatch, he turned to his cabinet and said
calmly :

"Well, we must liold up this message until all our people arc out of
Cuba."

"Impossible !" exclaimed two or three of his advisers in unison.

Our Martyred President 217

Congress will not permit twenty-four hours' delay. It will be impos-
sible^ to restrain them. If you withhold that message any longer, Mr.
President, you will be politically ruined," said one of them^

The President looked down at the table for a moment, thoughtfully,
then, raising his eyes with a determined expression, remarked:

"The important question is not how a postponement wall affect me,
l)Ut how it wall affect those consuls in Cuba. We have already lost
enough lives. I shall hold the message."

THE PRESIDENT COULD AFFORD TO KEEP A COW.

Just after President McKinley's inauguration he had his relatives
who were in the city, at a family dinner at the White House. It was a
large company and a good dinner. Dear old Mother McKinley was
there, but she was not very talkative. She was too happy for words.
But she kept a sharp eye on the dinner, and no detail of it escaped her.
She was impressed by the quantity of cream served with the fruit and
coffee, for she looked up at her son in her sweetly simple way and said :

"William, you must keep a cow now."

Some of the younger members of the family party found it difficult
to suppress a smile, but the President, with his usual tact and gracious-
ness, replied :

"Yes, mother, we can afford to have a cow now, and have all the
cream we can possibly use."

THE president's TITLE.

Just after election, which made Mr. McKinley President-elect, an
old man, one of the oldest friends o^" the McKinley's, called at the Can-
ton home.

"Why, how do you do. Uncle John?" cordially exclaimed the Presi-
dent-elect to the farmer.

The farmer's face flushed as he replied, "Neighbor, 'taint all right
to call you neighbor any more, and I want to know just how to speak to
you. You used to be just Major McKinley, and then you was Lawyer
McKinley, and then after a bit you was Congressman McKinley, and
then you got to be Governor McKinley, but you ain't President yet."

The President-elect laughed heartily at the perplexity of his constit-
uent, and answered :

"John, I won't have a friend of mine, such as you are, address me
by any prouder title than that of major. That rank belongs to me. I
am not governor any more, and I am not President yet. So you just
call me plain major, wdiich I like to be to all my friends."

2i8 Life of William McKinley

THE HAPPIEST MAN IN THE COUNTRY.

Many peopk wonder how the President got through the amount of
work required of him daily, and how he stood the strain. Perhaps as
close view of him in his othcial Hfe as could be presented, is found in
this estimate given in 1898 by one of his closest friends, Senator Ed-
ward Wolcott, of Colorado:

"The President is, without exception, the kindest-hearted man that
I have ever met. He is so good and kind in his nature that he is grow-
ing younger every day. His only worry is that wdien night comes he
thinks of the activities of the busy day, and wonders if he has not failed
to see someone who wanted to see him, or failed to do something which
someone w^anted him to do. Instead of growing old in the White
House, the wrinkles are coming out of his face. He is the happiest man
in the country. He is full of joy because the fates have placed in his
hands the power to do so much good, and to show so much kindness and
generosity. You can see it in his face and feel it in the touch of his
handfe. There is no man in this country for whom the sun shines
brighter than for William McKinley. The work and worry that killed
other Presidents, only warm his heart and gladden his life. Whenever
I see the President I think there is a lesson in his life for us all : that we
should soften our natures and strive to find pleasure in doing good,
rather than in self-seeking."

HIS QUIET METHOD OF DISAPPROVAL.

Those who knew President McKinley longest say they never knew
him to lose his temper or to scold even the worst offending servant.
He had a quiet method of disapproval far more effective. He would
select different people around him to do certain things for him. As,
for instance, when some engagement called him from Washington, he
would look around, and the man on whom his eyes happened to fall
would be the man selected to arrange for the journey. To him, the
President would say : "I want to go to Philadelphia next Tuesday on the
nine o'clock train; Mrs. McKinley will go with me. Will you see to
things, please?" This meant that the President looked for every detail
necessary to the journey to that particular man. Personally, he gave
the matter no more thought. If, however, there was a hitch in the
arrangements, due to the carelessness on the part of the man detailed
to attend to "the matter, the President never gave expression to a word
of censure nor made any comment whatever. He was always careful,
however, never again to intrust similar duties to that person. This was
Mr. McKinley's invariable method of expressing his disapproval.

Our Martyred President 219

THE PRESIDENT PROVES HIS METHODISM,

President McKinley always showed the highest degree of gener-
osity towards his poUtical opponents. While governor- of Ohio, he
was about to appoint to an exalted and lucrative office a man who for
many years had been his ardent supporter, but who had deserted him
and gone over to the enemy at a critical period. Later, when that
critical period had passed, the deserter slipped back into his party and
remained unnoticed until he became a candidate for office. Many of
Governor McKinley's loyal friends earnestly protested against his ap-
pointment. They argued that the man had been a traitor when he was
most needed, and that he was not entitled to consideration.

The governor's face lighted up with a smile, and he remarked:
"Gentlemen, you seem to forget that I am a Methodist, and believe in
the doctrine of falling from grace."

PLACES FLOWERS IN THE HANDS OF TOIL.

One morning a delegation composed of the officers of the several
great labor organizations, called at the White House to ask a favor
which the President could not grant. He listened attentively to the
presentation of their case and then, expressing his regret that he could
not oblige them, explained at length the reason why. They thanked
him for his candor, and were bidding him good morning, when he took
a carnation from his button-hole and pinned it on the lapel of the coat
of the leader of the party. Then, taking the cluster of carnations on
his desk, he distributed them among the others, saying :

"Please give these to your wives, or to your sweethearts if you are
not married, with my compliments."

His visitors were horny-handed sons of toil, unaccustomed to giving
and receiving nosegays, but they were touched by the delicate little
compliment, and before they left the White House the flowers so
graciously given were carefully stowed away in their handkerchiefs.

A page's SYMPATHY WINS HIM FAVOR.

Many years ago when Mr. McKinley was in the house of repre-
sentatives, there was one page who always waited on him. When Mr.
McKinley was unseated in 1890, by Mr. Warwick, it became necessary
to move his papers and books and the flowers that had been sent to him,
from his desk in the house of representatives to the hotel where he was
stopping. He asked the page to attend to the matter.

The boy secured a carriage, paid a dollar to the driver, and carried
the things to the room of the ex-congressman. Mr. McKinley thanked
him heartily, and put five dollars in his hand when he said good-by.

220 Life of William McKinley

The page shrank back. With his hands behind him, he said : "Oh, no,
Mr. McKinley, I could not take money from you now."

Mr. McKinley looked at the boy kindly, and as he shook his hand
said: "I understand you, and I want you to know that I appreciate
your sympathy. I shall not forget it. Perhaps some day I shall be able
to show you that."

Years after, a young man called at the White House, and as he gave
his name to the President, he modestly added: "I used to be your

page."

"I remember you very well," replied the President, "and I have not

forgotten one very kind act of yours."

He was not an office seeker, but merely called to pay his respects.
Before the week was over, however, the former page was appointed to
a responsible office in the District.

SERVICE TO A POLITICAL OPPONENT.

McKinley's name has been the synonym for the policy of protection
to American industries. One story told of McKinley as chairman of
the committee on ways and means, illustrates how he looked upon this
question, not as a political issue, but one of national import, important
for all the people.

A manufacturer, who was a democrat, went to McKinley's rooms at
the Ebbitt house, in Washington, one evening, and said to him : "Mr.
McKinley, I have been to my member, who is a democrat like myself,
to have him help me to get a hearing before your committee. I have
been to my senator, who is a democrat, and I have been to others, and
they all failed me. Now, I have come to you. I have no claim on you,
but I want to ask the privilege of representing my case."

McKinley sat with the man until after midnight, listened to his
presentation, searched the records, went over the tariff schedules and at
last said to the manufacturer, who was an entire stranger to him:
"Your claim is just. I thank you for bringing it to me. We should
have made a mistake had we left the schedule as it is. I will see that it
is changed." The story illustrates that Major McKinley's devotion to
the policy of protection was not because it was a republican doctrine,
but because for more than twenty-five years he believed it to be the most
important question to the American people.

m'kinley's courtship.

Mrs. McKinley was the first child of James and ]\Iary Saxton, of
Canton. As a child and young woman, she was vivacious, and had
friends among all classes. She had then the happy faculty of becoming

Our Martyred President 221

endeared to those who knew her — a trait which is hers still. Her edu-
cation was obtained in the public schools of Canton, at a school in
Cleveland, and later at Brook Hall seminary, Media, Pa., then under
the charge of Miss Eastman, who w^as a well-known educator of that
time. Here, Mrs. McKinley, then Ida Saxton, spent three years.
After this, she spent six months with a party of friends visiting points
of interest in Europe.

When she returned to Canton, a young woman, handsome and re-
fined, a career of belleship was open to her. She added to her charming
manners a dash of coquetry, just enough to make the young men eager
to be a friend of the worthy young woman.

Her father was a man of staid character and pronounced opinions.
He was then a banker, and he concluded to give his daughter such a
training as would fit her to cope with all the duties of woman, new or
old. Accordingly, Miss Ida was installed as assistant in the bank, and
there is a common saying here that her fair face attracted bouquets and
bank-notes to the window. ''She must be trained," said her father,
"to buy her own bread if necessary, and not to sell herself to matri-
mony."

Mr. Saxton had married happily, and he jealously guarded his
daughter. His placing her in the bank was a master-stroke. She
was having business to think about, and was fitting herself for the trials
of life and adversity if they should come.

Of suitors, Miss Ida Saxton had many. There were among them
the best in point of position and w'ealth the country knew. When Miss
Saxton returned from her foreign tour. Major McKinley was fairly
started in his legal career. His honest face and manly bearing van-
quished all rivals, removed the young woman from the cashier's win-
dow, and won from honest James Saxton these w^ords when the hand
of his daughter was gained :

"You are the only man I have ever known to whom I would entrust
my daughter."

THE OFT-REPEATED SALUTE.

In Columbus, Ohio, the people who happened to be about the capital
grounds or on High street in the morning or afternoon, and saw Gov-
ernor McKinley go back and forth between the capital and the old Neil
house, noticed that he always paused on the steps of the state house
before entering, turned and lifted his hat to a certain window in the
hotel directly opposite. Men and women who saw this silent salute
watched for it day after day, morning and evening, and never "saw the
governor enter the capitol without giving it. There was no occasion
for inquiry or comment. Everyone in the city knew that Mrs.

222 Life of William McKinley

McKinley was an invalid, and that the window was hers. If they
glanced up at the window, they saw a beautiful face brighten with a
smile as she saw the silk hat lifted at the entrance to the capitol.

This salute told the story of Governor McKinley's home-life and its
romance, better than could any biographer or poet or writer of fiction.
It fitted exactly into the governor's remark : "Oh, we are just old mar-
ried lovers."

THE president's DEVOTION TO HIS MOTHER,

The most beautiful traits in the character of President McKinley
found their expression in the filial devotion that he always showed for
his mother, and in the deep love and tender solicitude for his invalid
wife.

During the lifetime of his mother, no twenty-four hours w^re al-
lowed to pass without some communication passing between her and her
son. If he were at his home in Canton, Ohio, his daily call at Mother
McKinley's little cottage was as certain as the dawn of day. Sickness
alone prevented it, and then some message, written or verbal, would
take its place. During the entire brief term of his governorship of
Ohio, he sent a letter, no matter how brief, to his mother every day.
Sometimes, when under some tremendous pressure of work, the daily
message would take the form of a telegram, but this resort he avoided as
much as possible. At one time, during a serious disturbance in Ohio,
when the troops had been called out to prevent an anticipated lynching.
Governor McKinley, for a period of ten days, scarcely slept. Yet, every
night, the very last thing before he allowed himself to snatch the briefest
rest, he wrote a little note to his mother, knowing her great anxiety.

When, after the inauguration of her son as President, Mother
McKinley returned to Canton, the daily letters were resumed. Every
day there came to the Canton postoffice the little White House envelope,
bearing some tender message from her "William at Washington" to his
mother. "William at Washington" was always the way that she re-
ferred to her President-son.

HIS TENDER SOLICITUDE FOR. HIS WIFE,

The President's tender solicitude for his wife was not less than
was his beautiful devotion to his mother. The husband knew how his
invalid wife suffered at times, and his watchful eye scarcely ever left
her. Whenever it was at all possible for her to accompany him on some
journey, he made it a personal matter that she should go. At all din-
ners, even the most formal state affairs, the regulation etiquette was set
aside, and Mrs. McKinley always sat, not opposite to him at the other
end cr side of the table, as official custom demanded, but at the Presi-

Our Martyred President 223

dent's side, so that he might be close to her. This rule was never de-
parted from, and the deviation from the usual custom was accepted by
everybody. When Mrs. McKinley was upstairs in the White House,
and not feeling very well, it w^as not unusual for the President to excuse
himself from some conference, or to callers, and run quickly up-stairs
to spend a moment with his wife. He had been known to do this as
often as twelve times a day. His tender care of her when traveling-
won for him the deepest reverence and admiration of all who happened
to be near the devoted husband and wife. When affairs of state were
urgent, the President invariably shielded his wife from the unfavorable
side, always presenting to her the most cheerful and brightest view of
any question at issue. Again and again during the tenancy of the
White House the President himself, in addition to all his other duties,
directed so far as he could, the domestic machinery of the executive
mansion, in order to save his wife from the worry of household cares.
No two people could be closer in understanding and in more perfect
sympathy than were President McKinley and his wife. In every por-
trait she had taken, she invariably insisted that the President should be
included, or that a portrait of him should hang on the wall behind her
or stand on a table at her side.

ONE DAY AT A TIME.

During the Peace Jubilee in Chicago, President McKinley was
present at the great religious services in the Auditorium on Sunday
afternoon for the children, and in the evening for adults, presided over
by the chairman of the committee, Bishop Samuel Fallows. At the
close of the afternoon exercises he accepted an invitation to address
the colored people in Ouinn Chapel, and invited Bishop B. W. Arnett,
D. D., of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and Bishop Fal-
lows to accompany him. As they were riding together Bishop Arnett
said : "Mr. President, your duties during the Spanish- American war
were so numerous and burdensome that you must have been often
unable to sleep when night came."

The president turned to Bishop Fallows and said : "Bishop, do you
try to get out two sermons at the same time ?" The bishop responded :
"No, Mr. President, one sermon is all I can manage at once." Mr.
McKinley then said : "No matter how long or how short my day may
be, I am through with its cares when night comes. I leave the results
with divine providence and do not attempt to do tomorrow's work in
the day I have ended."

DWELLING TOGETHER IN UNITY.

During the same carriage ride. Bishop Arnett said to Mr. McKinley :

224 Our Martyred President

"Mr. President, there are at least three bishops who are thoroughly
united in love for you and in their support of your administration. One
is Archbishop Ireland, another is Bishop Fallows here, and another is
myself."

An acknowledging smile was on the president's face as the words of
scripture occurred to him, "Behold how good and how pleasant a thing-
it is for brethren to dwell together in unity."

BELOVED BY HIS CABINET AND DESIROUS OF DOING WHAT IS RIGHT.

At the laying of the corner stone of the new government building
in Chicago, Mr. McKinley and several members of his cabinet were
present and participated in the exercises. At an informal reception
given them all at the Chicago Athletic Club one of the members of the
cabinet said to Bishop Fallows : "Every member of the president's
official household sincerely love their chief. They love him for his
sterling personal qualities and for the high sense of honor he always
manifests in dealing with questions of state. No matter though the
question for consideration is upon some minor subject he is accustomed
to say: "Let us do the thing that is right in this matter."

FAITHFUL IN ATTENDANCE UPON CHURCH.

The Rev. Dr. Chase, pastor of the Centenary Methodist Church in
Chicago, was visiting the Rev. Frank Bristol in Washington. Before
the services on Sunday morning Chase said : "Do you think the presi-
dent will be present today?" "Yes," replied Dr. Bristol in the ener-
getic manner characteristic of this eminent young divine. "I always
count on the president's being present, rain or shine, unless some unex-
pected emergency arises to prevent his coming, such as a meeting with
his cabinet or attendance upon Mrs. McKinley in her illness."

TRIBUTE OF AN OLD SOLDIER.

Tributes of old soldiers and personal friends expressed not only the
love of those who gave them, but they manifested the tenderness of him
whose departure they mourned. While the body of the president was
lying in state in Canton an aged man leaning upon two crutches, which
he managed with difficulty, appeared at the door through which the
people w^ere making their exit. He asked the sentry to allow him to
enter and, when the soldier refused, saying he had received orders to
allow nobody through that door, the old man stood back the picture of
woe. In a short time he again asked the young sentry in pleading tones
to allow him entrance through the doorway, saying that in his feeble con-
dition he was not able to stand in the line, which at that time was extend-
ing fully a mile from the entrance. "I fought in his regiment during the
war," he said, "and I just want to lay this flag on his coffln and then

RT. REV. BISHOP SAMUEL FALLOWS, D.D., LL. D.

Life of William McKinley 225

keep it as a reminder of the time I saw him last." 'Take it in," said the
sentry, and the veteran hobbled into the hall. When he got inside he
had more trouble and was compelled to explain his errand several times.
Finally the line passing the coftin was stopped long enough to allow the
old man to step to its side for a glance into the coffin, and to lay his tiny
flag on its glass front. Then he turned back with the crowd, hugging
the now sanctified flag tightly beneath his coat.

Among those in the line was an old farmer from the lower end of
Stark county. He paused beside the casket and burst into tears. "His
kindness and his counsel saved a boy of mine," the old man murmured,
half in apology, to the guards as he tottered out of the building. Old
soldiers who had served with the "major," as they called him, stumped
by with limping feet on wooden legs and on crutches. Poor men and
poor women whom he had helped when they needed help and without
anybody being the wiser, dropped flowers on the pall. One old soldier
broke through the second time for another look. "I went to the war with
him," the old man said, "and I would not have come back but for him.
He saw that I wasn't forgotten in the hospital."

DEVOTION TO CHILDREN.

No man was ever more devoted to children than Mr. McKinley, or
had a more winning manner with them. An illustration of his kindness
occurred during the president's transcontinental tour. The train stopped
for a few minutes at a little town on the desert. Among those who
were at the station to see the president's train go by were two little girls,
one of whom had a kodak. The president stepped off the train and was
about to walk along the platform when one of the girls, unabashed as
older persons are in the presence of the great, asked him if she might take
his picture. The president smilingly consented, and stood patiently while
the child adjusted her kodak to the correct focus and took the picture.
Thousands of children had been the recipients of similar acts of kind-
ness, and these were represented in spirit by a little girl of Canton while
the body was lying in state. She stopped long enough to press a kiss
upon the glass over the dead face and then ran from the building with
streaming eyes. One of the guards thought he saw her drop something
and looked. He found a little cluster of common, late-bloomino- earden
flowers, and to it was tied with a piece of thread a note written in a
cramped, childish hand :

Dear Mr. McKinley : I wish I could send you some prettier flow-
ers, but these are all I have. I am sorry you got shot. Katie Lee.

The guard picked up the modest little buncli of flowers and tenderly
laid it across a cluster of orchids. "I thought I saw the president smile,"
he said to a comrade.

226 Life of William McKinley

CLOSING INCIDENTS OF m'kINLEY's LIFE.

When the President repeated the words, "Nearer my God to thee,
nearer to thee; e'en though it be a cross that raiseth me," he said: "It
has been my constant prayer, my hfe-long prayer."

When, in the last moments, Mrs. McKinley said to him : "I want
to go with you," he rephed, "W^e are all going, my dear."

While his hand was laid upon the shoulder of Mrs. McKinley, one
of her dearest friends entered the room. With unfailing courtesy he
turned its palm so that it could be grasped by this friend. It was
already turning cold in death, and while no words could escape his lips,
the smile of loving recognition came to his face.

He said to one of the nurses who waited upon him : "Have you been
to the exposition ?" She answered, "No, Mr. President." "Why, where
did you come from?" he said with a playful movement of the lips.
"From Baltimore," she said. "Oh, were you the nurse that attended
Mrs. Gage?" he asked. "Yes," she replied. "Then I am very glad in-
deed to have you wait upon me." "And I am very glad indeed," she
answered, "to wait upon you, Mr. President."

An intimate friend was permitted to look over the little w^ork en-
titled "Daily Strength for Daily Need," out of which he daily read to
Mrs. McKinley. In it she found many passages marked, but one was
particularly noted :

"So near is grandeur to our dust.

So near is God to man
When Duty whispers low, 'I must,'
Then Youth replies T can.' "

In the early part of the President's struggle for life he would say
to the nurses and physicians, after his wound had been attended to : "Let
us have prayer." Then, k^ieeling, they would repeat with him the Lord's
Prayer.

TRUE TO HIS COLORED FRIENDS.

When President McKinley appointed the late ex-Senator Bruce to the
position of register of the treasury, considerable surprise was felt that he
should select a colored man to fill so important a position. One day a
friend asked him what were his reasons for appointing Bruce.

"I have two," replied the President. "The first is the man's fitness
for the position. The second is that Bruce's name will appear on every
bank bill that will be issued by the government while he is in office, and
every colored man who gets one of the notes can read on it the name of
a man of his own race, and see in it the lesson that, v/itli economy, indus-
try, honesty and ambition, this government will recognize him the same
as it does men of a lighter color of skin."

CHAPTER XIX.

Chronological Record of the Life of President William

McKinley.

1843. Jan. 29. William McKinley, son of William and Nancy (Al-
lison) McKinley, is born at Niles, Trumbull county, O., being the seventh
of a family of nine children.

1852. The McKinley family removes to Poland, Mahoning county,
O., where William studies at the Union seminary until he is 17.

1859. Becomes a member of the Methodist Episcopal church in
Poland.

i860. Enters the junior class in Allegheny college, ]\Ieadville, Pa.,
but poor health prevents the completion of the course. Subsequently
teaches in a public school near Poland and later becomes a clerk in
the Poland postoffice.

1861. June II. Enlists as a private in Company E, of the Twenty-
third Ohio volunteer infantry.

1862. April 15. Promoted to commissary sergeant while in the win-
ter's camp at Fayette, W. Va.

1862. Sept. 24. Promoted to second lieutenant, in recognition of
services at the battle of Antietam. Wins the highest esteem of the
colonel of the regiment, Rutherford B. Haj^es, and becomes a member
of his staff.

1863. Feb. 7. Promoted to first lieutenant.

1864. July 25. Promoted to captain for gallantry at the battle of
Kernstown, near \Mnchester, \^a.

1864. Oct. II. First vote for president cast, while on a march, for
Abraham Lincoln.

1864. Shortly after the battle of Cedar Creek (October 19), Captain*
McKinley serves on the staffs of General George Crook and General
Winfield S. Hancock.

1865. Assigned as acting assistant adjutant general on the staff
of General Samuel S. Carroll, commanding the veteran reserve corps
at Washington.

PRESIDENT LINCOLN BREVETS HIM.

1865. March 13. Commissioned by President Lincoln as major by

227

228 Life of William McKinley

brevet in the volunteer United States army, "for gallant and merito-
rious service at the battles of Opequan, Cedar Creek and Fisher's Hill."
1865. July 26. Mustered out of the army with his regiment, having
never been absent from his command on sick leave during more than
four years' service.

1865. Returns to Poland and at once begins the study of law.

1866. Enters the Albany (N. Y.) law school.

1867. Admitted to the bar at Warren, O., in March. Accepting
the advice of an elder sister teaching in Canton, O., he begins the
practice of law in Canton and makes that place his home.

HIS FIRST OFFICE.

1869. Elected prosecuting attorney of Stark county on the repub-
lican ticket, although the county had usually been democratic.

1 87 1. Jan. 25. Marries Miss Ida Saxton, of Canton. (Two daugh-
ters born to Mr. and Mrs. McKinley — Katie in 1871 and Ida in 1873 —
and both lost in early childhood).

1 87 1. Fails of re-election as prosecuting attorney by forty-five votes,
and for the next five years devotes himself successfully to the practice
of law, and becomes a leading member of the bar of Stark county.

1872. Though not a candidate, very active as a campaign speaker
in the Grant-Greeley presidential campaign.

1875. Especially active and conspicuous as a campaigner in the closely
contested state election in which Rutherford B. Hayes is elected governor.

ELECTED TO CONGRESS.

1876. Elected member of the house of representatives by 3,300 ma-
jority, his friend Hayes bemg elected, to the presidency.

1878. Re-elected to congress by 1,234 majority, his district in Ohio
having been gerrymandered to his disadvantage by a democratic legis-
lature.

18S0. Re-elected to congress by 3,571 majority. Appointed a mem-
ber of the ways and means committee, to succeed President-elect Garfield.

1882. The republicans suffer reverses throughout the country in
the congressional election and McKinley is re-elected by a majority
of only 8.

1884. Prominent in opposition to the proposed "Morrison tariff" in
congress.

1884. As a delegate-at-large to the republican national convention
in Chicago actively supports James G. Blaine for tlie presidential nom-
ination.

Our Martyred President 229

1884. Re-elected to congress by a majority of 2,000, although his
district had again been gerrymandered against him.

1886. Re-elected to congress by a majority of 2,550.

1886. Leads the minority opposition in congress against the "Mills
tariff bill."

1888. Delegate-at-large to the national convention in Chicago that
nominated Benjamin Harrison, an.d serves as chairman of the com-
mittee on resolutions. Many delegates wish McKinley to become a
nominee, but he stands firm in his support of John Sherman.

1888. Elected to congress for the seventh successive time, receiving
a majority of 4,100 votes.

1889. At the organization of the Fifty-first congress, is .a candidate
for speaker of the house, but is defeated on the third ballot in the Re-
publican caucus by Thomas B. Reed.

1890. Upon the death of William D. Kelley in January McKinley
becomes chairman of the ways and means committee and leader of his
party in the house. He introduces a bill "to simplify the laws in rela-
tion to the collection of revenues," known as the "customs administra-
tion bill." He also introduces a general tariff bill. The bill becomes
a law October 6.

1890. As a result of the gerrymandered congressional district and
the reaction against the republican party throughout the country, caused
by the protracted struggle over the tariff bill, McKinley is defeated in
the election for congress by 300 votes in counties that had previously
gone democratic by 3,000.

* GOVERNOR OF OHIO.

1 89 1. Nov. 3. Elected governor of Ohio by a plurality of 21,511,
polling the largest vote that had ever been cast for governor in Ohio. His
opponent is the democratic governor, James E. Campbell.

1892. As delegate-at-large to the national convention at Minne-
apolis and chairman of the convention, McKinley refuses to permit the
consideration of his name and supports the renomination of President
Harrison. The roll call results as follows: Harrison 535, Blaine 182,
McKinley 182, Reed 4, Lincoln i.

1892. Death of William McKinley, Sr., in November.

1893. Unanimously renominated for governor of Ohio and re-elected
by a plurality of 80,995, this majority being the greatest ever recorded,
with a single exception during the civil war, for any candidate in the his-
tory of the state.

1896. June 18. At the Republican national convention in St. Louis
is nominated for president on the first ballot, the result of the voting

230 Life of William McKinley

being as follows: McKinley 66i>4, Reed 84^, Quay 60^, Morton
58, yVllison 35^/^, Cameron i.

IS ELECTED PRESIDENT.

1896. Nov. 3. Receives a popular vote in the presidential election
of 7,104.779, a plurality of 601,854 over his democratic opponent, Wil-
liam J, Bryan. In the electoral college later McKinley receives 271 votes,
against 176 for Bryan.

1897. March 4. Inaugurated President of the United States for the
twenty-eighth cjuadrennial term. ^

1897. March 6. Issues proclamation for an extra session of con-
gress to assemble March 15. The president's message dwells solely upon
the need of a revision of the existing tariff law.

1897. May 17. In response to an appeal from the President con-
gress appropriates $50,000 for the relief of the destitution in Cuba.

1897. July 24. The "Dingley tariff bill" receives the president's ap-
proval.

1897. Dec. 12. Death of President McKinley 's mother at Canton, O.

1898. Both branches of congress vote unanimously (the house on
March 8 by a vote of 313 to o and the senate by a vote of 76 to o on the
following day) to place $50,000,000 at the disposal of the president to
be used at his discretion "for the national defense."

1898. March 23. The president sends to the Spanish government
through Minister Woodford at Madrid, an ultimatum regarding the in-
tolerable condition of affairs in Cuba.

1898. March 28. The report of the court of inquiry on the destruc-
tion of the Maine at Havana, on February 15, is transmitted by the presi-
dent to congress.

1898. April II. The president sends a message to congress out-
lining the situation, declaring that intervention is necessary and advising
against the recognition of the Cuban government.

1898. April 21. The Spanish government sends Minister Woodford
his passports, thus beginning the war.

1898. April 23. The president issues a call for 125,000 volunteers.

1898. April 24. Spain formally- declares that war exists with the
United States.

RECOMMENDS DECLARATION OF M^\R.

1898. April 25. The President sends message to congress recom-
mending the passage of a joint resolution declaring that war exists with
Spain. On the same day both branches of congress passed such a
resolution.

1898. May 25. The President issues a call for 75,000 additional
yolunteei's.

Our Martyred President 231

1898. June 29. Yale university confers upon President McKinley
the degree of LL. D.

1S98. July 7. Joint resolution of congress providing for the annexa-
tion of Hawaii receives the approval of the president.

1898. Aug. 9. Spain formally accepts the president's terms of peace.

1898. Aug. 12. The peace protocol is signed. An armistice is pro-
claimed and the Cuban blockade raised.

1898. Oct. 17. The president receives the degree of LL. D. from
the University of Chicago.

1898. Dec. 10. The treaty of peace between Spain and the United
States is signed at Paris.

1900. March 14. The President signs the "gold standard act."

RENOMINATED FOR PRESIDENCY.

1900. June 21. The Republican national convention at Philadelphia
unanimously renominates William McKinley for the presidency.

1900. June 21. The president's amnesty proclamation to the Filipinos
is published in Manila.

1900. July 10. The United States government makes public a state-
ment of its policy as to affairs in China,

1900. Sept. 10. Letter accepting the presidential nomination and dis-
cussing the issues of the campaign is given to the public.

1900. Nov. 6. In the presidential election William McKinley carries
twenty-eight states, which have an aggregate of 292 votes in the electoral
college, his democratic opponent, William J. Bryan, carrying seventeen
states, having ip5 electoral votes. His popular plurality is also larger
than in the eLjfrnon cf 1896.

1 90 1. ^I^ch 4. Inaugurated president. Shot by Czolgosz Septem-
ber 6, a^^ffalo, N. Y. Dies September 14 at Buffalo. Buried at Can-
ton, O., September 19.

;

CHAPTER XX.

Masterpieces of William McKinley's Eloquence.

THE REPUBLICAN PARTY,

"Mr. President, Gentlemen of the Michigan Repubhcan Club.

"It gives me sincere pleasure to meet with you to-night. I have
not met with the Republicans of Michigan since the great victory of
1894 — the great national victory — and I bring to you my congratula-
tions upon the proud part you bore in that great conflict resulting
so triumphantly for Republican principles, and, as I believe, for the
best interests of the whole country. I cannot believe that our prin-
ciples are less dear to us in their triumph than they were in their tem-
porary defeat. I cannot believe that the principles which won a most
unprecedented victory from ocean to ocean require now either modi-
fication or abandonment. They are dearer and closer to the Amer-
ican heart than they have ever been in the past, notwithstanding the
magnificent victory of 1894, and notwithstanding these great principles
are cherished in the hearts of the American people, there is still a
greater and more significant battle to be fought in the near future,
before w^e can realize those principles in administration and legislation.

"While, in the situation of the country, there is no cause for con-
gratulation, this is not the time to employ terms of distrust or aggra-
vation. Times are bad enough, and the voice of encouragement is
more appropriate than that of alarm and exaggeration. The realities
are quite ugly enough, and it is the duty of each of us, by word and
act, insofar as it can be done, to improve the present condition. But
above all, we must not disparage our government. We must up-
hold it, and uphold it at all times and under all circumstances, not-
withstanding that we may not be able to support the measures and pol-
icies of the present administration. Home prosperity is the only key
to an easy treasury and a high credit. The Republican party never
lowered the flag or the credit of the government, but has exalted
both. I agree with the president, in his recent message, that, a pre-
dicament confronts us. When I was here six years ago, reading

232

Our Martyred President 233

from his message, it was a condition that confronted us, and that con-
dition was an overflowing treasury, under Republican legislation. Now
I come back to you, and it is a predicament that confronts the people
of the United Stales, because of a deficiency created by the legislation
of a Democratic congress and administration.

■ "I am sure, hov/ever, that there is wisdom and patriotism ample
enough in the country to relieve ourselves from this or any other
predicament, and tu place us once more at the head of the nations of
the world in credit, production and prosperity. The Republican party
needs but to adhere faithfully to its principles — to the principles enun-
ciated by its great national conventions, which guided the republic
for a third of a century in safety and honor, which gave the country
an adequate revenue, and, while doing that, labor received comfort-
able wages and steady employment, which guarded every American
interest at hom_e and abroad with zealous care — principles, the appli-
cation of which made us a nation of homes, of independent, prosper-
ous freemen, where all had a fair chance and an equal opportunity in
the race of life. You do not have to guess what the Republican party
will do. The whole world knows its purposes. It has embodied them
in law, and executed them in administration. It has bravely met every
emergency, and has ever measured up to every new duty. It is dedi-
cated to the people ; it stands for the United States. It practices what
it preaches, and fearlessly enforces what it teaches. Its simple code
is home and country. Its central idea is the well-being of the people,
and all the people. It has no arm which does not take into account the
honor of the government, and the material advancement and happi-
ness of the American people. The Republican party is neither an
apology nor a reminiscence. It is proud of its past, and it sees greater
usefulness in the future." — Michigan Club, Feb. 22, 1803.

THE m'kINLEY tariff OF 189O.

*T do not intend to enter upon any extended discussion of the
two economic systems which divide parties in this house and the peo-
ple throughout the country. For two years we have been occupied
in both branches of congress and in our discussions before the people
with these contending theories of taxation.

"At the first session of the Fiftieth congress the house spent sev-
eral weeks in an elaborate and exhaustive discussion of these svstems.
The senate was for as many weeks engaged in their investigation and
in debate upon them, while in the political contest of 1888 the tariff
in all its phases was the absorbing question, made so by the political
platforms of the respective parties, to the exclusion, practically, of

234 ^^^^ °^ William McKinley

every other subject of party division. It may be said that, from the
December session of 1887- 1888 to March 4, 1889, no pubhc question
ever received, in congress and out, such scrutinizing investigation as
that of the tariff. It has, therefore, seemed to me that any lengthy
general discussion of these principles at this time, so soon after their
thorough consideration and determination by the people, is neither ex-
pected, required, nor necessary.

"If any one thing was settled by the election of 1888, it was that
the protective policy, as promulgated in the Republican platform and
heretofore inaugurated and maintained by the Republican party, should
be secured in any fiscal legislation to be had by the congress chosen
in that great contest and upon that mastering issue. I have interpreted
that victory to mean, and the majority in this house and in the senate
to mean, that a revision of the tariff is not only demanded by the votes
of the people, but that such revision should be on the line and in full
recognition of the principle and purpose of protection. The people
have spoken; they want their will registered and their decree embodied
in public legislation. The bill which the committee on ways and means
has presented is their answer and interpretation of that victory and in
accordance with its spirit and letter and purpose. \\'e have not been
compelled to abolish the internal revenue system that we might pre-
serve the protective system, which we were pledged to do in the event
that the abolition of the one was essential to the preservation of the
other. That was unnecessary,

"It is asserted in the views of the minority, submitted with the
report accompanying this bill, that the operation of the bill will not
diminish the revenues of the government; tliat with the increased duties
we have imposed upon foreign articles which may be sent to market
here we have increased taxation, and that, therefore, instead of being
a diminution of the revenues of the government, there will be an
increase in the sum of $50,000,000 or $60,000,000. Now, that state-
ment is entirely misleading. It can only be accepted upon the as-
sumption that the importation of the present year under this bill, if
it becomes a law, will be equal to the importations of like articles under
the existing law ; and there is not a member of the committee on ways
and means, there is not a member of the minority of that committee,
there is not a member of the house on either side, who does not know
that the very instant that you have increased the duties to a fair pro-
tective point, putting them above the highest revenue point, that very
instant yon diminish importations and to that extent diminish the
revenue. Nobody can well dispute this proposition. Why, when the
senate bill was under consideration by the committee on ways and

^ Our Martyred President 235

means, over which my friend from Texas presided in the last con-
gress, the distinguished chairman of that committee (Mr. jMihs) wrote
a letter to Secretary Fairchild inquiring what would be the effect of in-
creased duties proposed under the senate bill, and this is Mr. Fairchild' s
reply :

" 'Where the rates upon articles successfully produced here are ma-
terially increased, it is fair to assume that the imports of such articles
would decrease and the revenue therefrom diminish.'

"He further states that where the rate upon an article is so increased
as to deprive the foreign producer of the power to compete with the
domestic producer, the revenue from that source will cease altogether.
Secretary Fairchild only states w^iat has been the universal experi-
ence in the United States wherever increase of duties above the rev-
enue point has been made upon articles which we can produce in the
United States. Therefore, it is safe to assume that no increase of the
revenues, taking the bill, through, will arise from the articles upon
which duties have been advanced. Now as to the schedules :

"The bill recommends the retention of the present rates of duty
on earthen and chinaware. No other industry in the United States
either deserves or requires the fostering care of government more than
this one. It is a business requiring technical and artistic knowledge,
and the most careful attention to the many and delicate processes
through which the raw material must pass to the completed product.
For many years, down to 1683, the pottery industry of the United
States had very little or no success, and made but slight progress in
a practical and commercial way. At the close of the low-tariff period
of i860, there was but one pottery in the United States, with two
small kilns. There were no decorating kilns at the time. In 1873,
encouraged by the tariff and the gold premium, which was an added
protection, we had increased to twenty potteries, with sixty-eight kilns,
but still no decorating kilns. The capital invested was $1,020,000,
and the value of the product was $1,180,000. In 1882, there w^re
fifty-five potteries, 244 kilns, twenty-six decorating kilns, with a cap-
ital invested of $5,076,000, and an annual product of $5,299,140. The
wages paid in the potteries in 1882 were $2,387,000, and the number
of employes engaged therein 7,000; the ratio of wages to sales, in 1882,
was 45 per cent. In 1889, there were eighty potteries, 401 kilns, and
decorating kilns had increased from twenty-six in 1822, to 188 in
1889. The capital invested in the latter year was $10,957,357, the
value of the product was $10,389,910, amount paid in wages, $6,265,-
224, and the number of employes engaged, 16,900. The ratio of wages
to sales was 60 per cent of decorated ware and 50 per cent of white

236 Life of William McKInley

ware. The per cent of wages to value of product, it will be observed,
has advanced from 45 per cent in 1882, to 60 per cent in 1889. This
increase is not due, as might be supposed, to an advance in wages,
but resuhs in a reduction in the selUng price of the product and the
immense increase in sales of decorated ware in which labor enters in
greater proportion to materials. The total importation for 1874 and
1875 of earthenware was to the value of $4,441,216, and in 1888 and
1889 it ran up to $6,476,190. The American ware produced in 1889
was valued at $10,389,910. The difference between the wages of
labor in this country and competing countries in the manufacture of
earthenware is fully 100 per cent.

"The agricultural condition of the countrv has received the care-
ful attention of the committee, and ever}^ remedy which was believed
to be within the power of tariff legislation to give has been granted
by this bill. The depression in agriculture is not confined to the
United States. The reports of the agricultural department indicate
that this distress is general; that Great Britain, France, and Germany
are suffering in a larger degree tlian the farmers of the United States.
Mr. Dcdge, statistician of the department, says, in his report of March,
1890, that the depression in agriculture in Great Britain has probably
been more severe than that of any other nation; which would indicate
that it is greater even in a country whose economic system differs from
ours, and that this condition is inseparable from any fiscal system,
and less under the protective than the revenue tariff system.

"It has been asserted in the views of the minority that the duty
put upon wheat and other agricultural products would be of no value
to the agriculturists of the United States. The committee, believing
differently, has advanced the duty upon these products. As we are
the greatest wheat-producing country of the world, it is habitually
asserted and believed by many that this product is safe from foreign
competition. We do not appreciate that while the United States last
year raised 490,000,000 bushels of wheat, France raised 316,000,000
bushels, Italy raised 103,000,000 bushels, Russia 189,000,000 bushels
and India 243,000,000 bushels, and that the total production of Asia,
including Asia Minor, Persia and Syria, amounted to over 315,000,-
000 bushels. Our sharpest competition comes from Russia and India,
and the increased product of other nations only serves to increase the
world's supply, and diminish proportionately the demand for ours; and
if we will only reflect on the difference between the cost of labor in
producing wheat in the United States and in competing countries, we
will readily perceive how near we are to the danger line, if indeed we
have not quite reached it, so far even as our own markets are concerned.

Our Martyred President ^37

''Professor Goldwiii .Smith, a Canadian and political economist,
speaking of the Canadian farmers and the effect of this bill, upon their
interests, says :

" 'They will be very much injured if the McKinley bill shall be
adopted. The agricultural schedule will bear very hardly on the Can-
adian farmers who particularly desire to find a market in the United
States for their eggs, their barley and their horses. The European mar-
ket is of little value to them for their horses. If there shall be a slow
market in JEngland all the profits will be consumed on a cargo of horses
and great loss will entail. I do not see how the Canadian farmers can
export their produce to the United States if the McKinley bill shall be-
come a law.'

"If that be true, Mr. Chairman, then the annual exports of about
$25,000,000 in agricultural products will be supplied to the people of
the United States by the American farmer rather than by the Canadian
farmer; and who will say that $25,000,000 of additional demand for
American agricultural products will not inure to the benefit of the
American farmer; and that $25,000,000 distributed among our own
farmers will not relieve some of the depression* now prevailing, and
give to the farmer confidence and increased ability to lift the mortgages
from his lands?

"The duty recommended in the bill is not alone to correct this in-
ecjuality, but to make the duty on foreign tin plate high enough to
insure its manufacture in this country to the extent of our home con-
sumption. The only reason we are not doing it now and have not
been able to do it in the past is because of inadecjuate duties. We
have demonstrated our ability to make it here as successfully as they
do in Wales. We have already made it here. Two factories were
engaged in producing tin plate in the years 1873, 1874, and 1875, but
no sooner had they got fairly under way than the foreign manufacturer
reduced his price to a point which made it impossible for our manu-
facturers to continue. When our people embarked in the business
foreign tin plate was selling for $12 per box, and to crush them out,
before they were firmly established, the price was brought down to
$4.50 per box; but it did not remain there. When the fires were put
out in the American mills, and its manufacture thought by the for-
eigners to be abandoned, the price of tin plate advanced, until in 187Q
it was selling for v$9 and v$io a box. ' Our people again tried it, and
again prices were depressed, and again our people abandoned tem-
porarily the enterprise, and, as a gentleman stated before the com-
mittee, twice they have lost their whole investment through the cem-
bination of the foreign manufacturers in striking down the prices, not

238 Life of William McKinley

for the benefit of the consumer, but to drive our manufacturers from
the business; and this would be followed by an advance within six
months after our mills were shut down.

"We propose this advanced duty to protect our manufacturers and
consumers against the British monopoly, in the belief that it will
defend our capital and labor in the production of tin plate until they
shall establish an industry which the English will recognize has come
to stay, and then competition will insure regular and reasonable prices
to consumers. It may add a little temporaril}^ to the cost of tin plate
to the consumer, but will eventuate in steadier and more satisfactory
prices. At the present prices for foreign tin plate, the proposed duty
would not add anything to the cost of the heavier grades of tin to the
consumer. If the entire duty were added to the cost of the can it
would not advance it more than one-third or one-half of one cent, for
on a dozen fruit cans the addition would properly only be about 3
cents.

"Mr. Chairman, gentlemen on the other side take great comfort
in a quotation which they make from Daniel Webster. They have
thought it so valuable that they have put it in their minority report.
It is from a speech made by Mr. Webster in Faneuil hall in 1820
when he condemned the protective policy. I want to put Daniel Web-
ster in 1846 against Daniel Webster in 1820. Listen to an extract
from his speech of July 25, 1846 — the last tariff speech and probably
the most elaborate tariff speech that he ever made in his long public
career. He then said :

" 'But, sir, before I proceed further, I will take notice of what
appears to be some attempt, latterly, by the republication of opinions
and expressions, arguments and speeches of mine, at an earlier and a
later period of my life, to place me in a position of inconsistency on
this subject of the protective policy of the country. Mr. President,
if it be an inconsistency to hold an opinion upon a subject of public
policy to-day in one state of circumstances, and to hold a different
opinion upon the same subject of public policy to-morrow in a dif-
ferent state of circumstances, if that be an inconsistency, I admit its
application to myself.'

"And then, after discussing the great benefits of the protective
tariff, he added :

" 'The interest of every laboring community requires diversity of
occupations, pursuits, and objects of industry. Tlie more that diversity
is multiplied or extended the better. To diversify employment is to
increase employment and to enhance wages. And, sir, take this great
truth; place it on the title page of every book of political economy in-

Our Martyred President 239

tended for the use of the government; put it in every farmer's ahiianac;
let it be the heading of the cokmm in every mechanic's magazine; pro-
claim it everywhere, and make it a proverb, tiiat where there is work
for the hands of men there will be work for their teeth. Where there
is employment there will be bread. It is a great blessing to the poor
to have cheap food, but greater than that, prior to that, and of still
higher value, is the blessing of being able to buy food by honest and
respectable employment. Employment feeds, and clothes, and instructs.
Employment gives health, sobriety, and morals. Constant employ-
ment and well paid labor produce in a country like ours general pros-
perity, contentment and cheerfulness. Thus happy have we seen the
country. Thus happy may we long continue to see it.'

"In this happy condition we have seen the country under a pro-
tective policy. It is hoped we may long continue to see it, and if he
had lived long enough he would have seen the best vindication of his
later views. Then he continued, and I commend this especially, in all
kindness and with great respect, to the gentlemen of the minority of
the committee :

" 'I hope I know more of the constitution of my country than 1 did
when I was 20 years old.

" T hope I have contemplated its great objects more broadly. I
hope I have read with deeper interest the sentiments of the great men
who framed it. I hope I have studied with more care the condition
of the country when the convention assembled to form it. . . .
And now, sir, allow me to say that I am quite indifierent, or rather thank-
ful, to those conductors of the public press who think they cannot do
better than now and then to spread my poor opinions before the public'

"WHiat is the nature of the complaint against this bill — that it
shuts us out of the foreign market? No, for whatever that is worth
to our citizens will be just as accessible imder this bill as under the
present law. We place no tax or burden or restraint upon American
products going out of tlie country. They are as free to seek the best
markets as the products of any commercial power, and as free to go
out as though we had absolute free trade. Statistics show that pro-
tective tariffs have not interrupted our export trade, but that it has
always steadily and largely increased under them.

'Tn the year 1843, being the first year after the protective tariff of
1842 went into operation, our exports exceeded our imports $40,392,-
229, and in the following year they exceeded our imports $3,141,226.
In the two years follow"ing the excess of exports over imports w^as
$15,475,000. The last year under that tariff the excess of exports over
imports was $34,317,249. So during the five years of the tariff of 1842

^40 Life of William McKinley

the excess of exports over imports was $62,175,000. Under the low
tariff of 1846, this was reversed, and, with the single exception of the
year 1858, the imports exceeded the exports (covering a period of
fourteen years) $465,553'625.

"We have now enjoyed twenty-nine years contmnously of pro-
tective tariff laws — the longest uninterrupted period iii which that
policy has prevailed since the formation of the federal government—
and we find ourselves at the end of that period in a condition of inde-
pendence and prosperity the like of which has never been witnessed
at any other period in the history of our country, and the like of which
has no parallel in the recorded history of the world. In all that goes
to make a nation great and strong and independent we have made
extraordinary strides. In arts, in science, in literature, in manufactures,
in invention, in scientific principles applied to manufacture and agri-
culture, in wealth and credit and national honor we are at the very
front, abreast with the best, and behind none.

"In i860, after fourteen years of a revenue tariff, just the kind of
a tariff that. our political adversaries are advocating to-day, the busi-
ness of the country was prostrated, agriculture was deplorably de-
pressed, manufacturing w^as on the decline, and the poverty of the gov-
ernment itself made this nation a byword in the financial centers of
the world. We neither had money nor credit. Both are essential; a
nation can get on if it has abundant revenues, but if it has none it
must have credit. We had neither, as the legacy of the Democratic
revenue tariff. We have both now. We have a surplus revenue and
a spotless credit. I need not state what is so fresh in our minds, so
recent in our history as to be known to every gentleman who hears
me, that from the inauguration of the protective tariff laws of 1861,
the old Morrill tariff — which has brought to that veteran statesman
the highest honor, and will give to him his proudest monument — this
condition changed. Confidence was restored, courage was inspired,
the government started upon a progressive era under a system thor-
oughly American.

"With a great war on our hands, with an army to enlist and pre-
pare for service, with untold millions of money to supply, the pro-
tective tariff never failed us in a single emergency, and while money
was flowing into our treasury to save the government, industries were
springing up all over the land — the foundation and cornerstone of
our prosperity and glory. With a debt of over $2,750,000,000 when
the war terminated, holding on to our protective laws, against Dem-
ocratic opposition, we have reduced that debt at an average rate of
more than $62,000,000 each year, $174,000 every twenty-four hours

LEAVING MILBURN RESIDENCE FOR CITY HALL, BUFFALO.

ARRIVAL OF FUNERAL TR.AIN AT CANTON, O., FROM WASHINGTON.

Our Martyred President 241

for the last twenty-five years, and what looked to be a burden almost
mipossible to bear has been removed, under the Republican fiscal sys-
tem, until now it is less than $1,000,000,000, and with the payment of
this vast sum of money the nation has not been impoverished. The
individual citizen has not been burdened or bankrupted. National
and individual prosperity have gone steadily on, until our wealth is so
great as to be almost incomprehensible when put into figures.

"First, then, to retain our own market, under the democratic sys-
tem of raising revenue by removing all protection, would require our
producers to sell at as low a price and upon as favorable terms as our
foreign competitors. How could that be done? In one way only — •
by producing as cheaply as those who would seek our markets. What
would that entail? An entire revolution in the methods and condi-
tion and conduct of business here, a leveling down through every chan-
nel to the lowest line of our competitors; our habits of living would
have to be changed, our wages cut down 50 per cent more, our com-
fortable homes exchanged for hovels, our independence yielded up,
our citizenship demoralized. These are conditions inseparable to free
trade; these would be necessary if we would command our own mar-
ket among our own people; and if we would invade the world's mar-
kets, harsher conditions and greater sacrifices w^ould be demanded of
the masses. Talk about depression — we would then have it in its ful-
ness. We would revel in unrestrained trade. Everything would, in-
deed, be cheap, but how costly when measured by the degradation
which would ensue! When merchandise is the clieapest, men are the
poorest, and the most distressing experiences in the history of our
country — ay, in all human history — have been when everything was
the lowest and cheapest, measured by gold, for everything was the
highest and the dearest, measured by labor. We want no return of
cheap times in our own country. We have no wish to adopt the con-
ditions of other nations. Experience has demonstrated that for us and
ours, and for the present and the future, the protective system meets
our wants, our conditions, promotes the national design, and will work
out our destiny better than any other.

"With me, this position is a deep conviction, not a theory. I be-
lieve in it and thus warmly advocate it because enveloped in it are my
country's highest development and greatest prosperity; out of it come
the greatest gains to the people, the greatest comforts to the masses,
the widest encouragement for manly aspirations, with the largest re-
wards, dignifying and elevating oitr citizenship, upon which the safety,
and purity, and permanency of our political system depend." — House
of Representatives, May 7, i8po.

242 Life of William McKinley

THE BLACK COLOR-BEARER.

"Our black allies must neither be deserted nor forsaken. Every
right secured them by the constitution must be as surely given to
them as though God had put upon their faces the color of the Anglo-
Saxon race. They fought for the flag in the war, and that flag, with
all it represents and stands for, must secure them every constitutional
right in peace. At Baton Rouge, the first regiment of the Black bri-
gade, before starting for Port Hudson, received at the hands of its
white colonel — Colonel Stafford — its regimental colors in a speech from
the colonel, which ended with this injunction:

" 'Color-bearer, guard, defend, protect, die for, but do not surrender,
these colors.'

"To which the sergeant replied — and he was as black as my coat :

" 'Colonel, I'll return those flags to you in honor, or I'll report to
God the reason why.'

"He fell mortally wounded, in one of the desperate charges in front
of Port Hudson, with his face to the enemy, with those colors in his
clenched fist pressed upon his breast. He did not return the colors, but
God above him knew the reason why.

"Against those who fought on the other side in that great conflict
we have no resentment; for them we have no bitterness. We would
impose upon them no punishment ; we would inflict upon them no in-
dignity. They are our brothers. We would save them even from
humiliation. But I wnll tell you what we insist upon, and we will insist
upon it until it is secured — that the settlement made between Grant
and Lee at Appomattox, which was afterward embodied in the consti-
tution of the United States, shall be obeyed and respected in every part
of this Union. More we have never asked, less we will not have." —
Nezv York, "The American J^oluntccr Soldier," May jo, 188^.

THE AMERICAN WORKINGMAN.

"The ideals of yesterday are the truths of to-day. What we hope
for and aspire to now we will realize in the future if we are prudent
and careful. If right is on our side, and we pursue resolute but orderly
methods to secure our end, it is sure to come. There is no better way
of securing what we want, and what we believe is best for us and those
for whom we have a care, than the old way of striving earnestly and
honestly for it. The labor of the country constitutes its strength and
its wealth, and the better that labor is conditioned, the higher its
rewards, the wider its opportunities, and the greater its comforts and
refinements, the better will be our civilization, the more sacred will be

Our Martyred President 243

our homes, the more capable our children, and the nobler will be tlie
destiny which awaits us. We can only walk in the path of right, reso-
lutely insisting on the right, always being sure at the same time that
we are right ourselves, and time will bring the victories. To labor
is accorded its full share of the advantages of a government like ours.
None more than the laborers enjoy the benefits and blessings which our
free institutions make. This country differs in many and essential
respects from other countries, and, as is often said, it is just this dif-
ference which makes us the best of all. It is the difference between
our political equality and the caste conditions of other nations which
elevates and enlightens the American laborer, and inspires within him
a feeling of pride and manhood. It is the difference in recompense
received by him for his labor and that received by the foreigner which
enables him to acquire for himself and his a cheery home
and the comforts of life. It is the difference between our
educational facilities and the less liberal opportunities for learning in
other lands which vouchsafes to him the priceless privilege of rearing
a happy, intelligent, and God-fearing family. The great Matthew
Arnold has truly said, 'America holds the future.' It is in commemo-
ration of the achievements of labor in the past that Labor day was
established. It was eminently fitting that the people should turn aside
on one day of the year from their usual vocation and rejoice together
over the unequaled prosperity that has been vouchsafed" to them. The
triumplis of American labor cannot easily be recited nor Its trophies
enumerated. But, great as they have been in the past, I am fully con-
vinced that there are richer rewards in store for labor in the future." —
Cincinnati, O., Sept. i, iSpi.

THE EIGHT-HOUR LAW.

■ ^ ''Mr. Speaker: — I am in favor of this bill. It has been said that
it is a bill to limit the opportunity of the workingman to gain a live-
lihood. This is not true; it will have the opposite effect. So far as
the government of the United States as an employer is concerned,
in the limitation for a day's work provided in this bill to eight hours,
instead of putting any limitation upon the opportunity of the Amer-
ican freeman to earn a living, it increases and enlarges his opportunity.
Eight hours under the laws of the United States constitute a day's
work. That law has been on our statute books for twenty-two years.
In all these years it has been 'the word of promise to the ear,' but by
the government of the United States it has been 'broken to the hope.'
the government and its officials should be swift to execute and enforce

244 Li^^ ^^ Wiiliam McKinley

its own laws; failure in this particular is most reprehensible. Now,
it must be remembered that when we constitute eight hours a day's
•work, instead of ten hours, every four days give an additional day's
work to some workingman who may not have any employment at
all. It is one more day's work, one more day's wages, one more oppor-
tunity for work and wages, an increased demand for labor. I am in
favor of this bill as it is amended by the motion of the gentleman
from Maryland. It applies now only to the labor of men's hands.
It applies only to their work. It does not apply to material, it does
not apply to transportation. It only applies to the actual labor, skilled
or unskilled, employed on public works and in the execution of the con-
tracts of the government. And the government of the United States*
ought, finally and in good faith, to set this example of eight hours
as constituting a day's work required of laboring men in the service
of the United States. The tendency of the times the world over is
for shorter hours for labor, shorter hours in the interest of health,
shorter hours in the interest of humanity, shorter hours in the
interest of the home and the family; and the United States
can do no better service to labor and to its own citizens than
to set the example to states, to corporations and to individuals employ-
ing men by declaring that, so far as the government is concerned,
eight hours shall constitute a day's work, and be all that is required of
its laboring force. This bill should be passed. My colleague, Mr.
Morey, has stated what we owe the family in this connection, and
Cardinal Manning, in a recent article, spoke noble words on the general
subject when he said:

" 'But if the domestic life of the people be vital above all, if the
peace, the purity of homes, the education of children, the duties of
wives and mothers, the duties of husbands and of fathers be written j
in the natural law of mankind, and if these things are sacred, far be- i
yond anything that can be sold in the market, then I say, if the hours
of labor resulting from the unregulated sale of a man's strength and
skill shall lead to the destruction of domestic life, to the neglect of
children, to turning wives and mothers into living machines, and of
fathers and husbands into — what shall I say, creatures of burden? —
I will not say any other w^ord — who rise up before the sun, and come
back when it is set, wearied and able only to take food and lie down to
rest, the domestic life of men exists no longer, and w^e dare not go on
in this path.'

"We owe something to the care, the elevation, the dignity, and the
education of labor. We owe something to the workingmen and the
families of the workingmen throughout the United States, who con-

Our Martyred President 245

stitute the large body of our population, and this bill is a step in the
right direction." — House of Representatives, August 28, i8po.

EDUCATION AND CITIZENSHIP.

"Mr. President, Members of the Faculty and Students of the Ohio
State University, and Fellozv Citizens: — The Prussian maxim, 'What-
ever you would have appear in the life of a nation, you must put into
your schools,' I would amend: 'What you would have appear in the
life of a nation, you must put into your homes and schools.' The be-
ginning of education is in the home, and the great advantage of the
American system of instruction is largely due to the elevated influences
of the happy and prosperous homes of our people. There is the foun-
dation, and a most important part of education. If the home life be
pure, sincere, and good, the child is usually well prepared to receive all
the advantages and inspirations of more advanced education. The
American home, where honesty, sobriety, and truth preside, and tlie
simple every-day virtues are practised, is the nursery of true education.
Out of such homes usually come the men and women who make our
citizenship pure and elevating, and the state and nation strong and
enduring".

'Tt is unfortunate that the great National University which Wash-
ington so strenuously advocated was not long ago established, with
an endowment commensurate with the dignity and importance of our
government, to which all the universities of all the states would be
auxiliary institutions and tributary in the same degree that our public
schools are becoming more and more training schools for the state
universities. To my mind the need of such a university is as essential
today for the welfare of the republic as the most enlightened and pro-
gressive nation of the world as it was in the days of our first greatest
president. His great character and broad comprehension not only domi-
nated the age in which he lived, but his advice may yet be followed to
the great ad\-antage of the youth of this and future ages.

"In tlie limitations of an address of this character, it is impossible
to do more than allude to the great work of the states of the Union,
in their independent relations, in behalf of education. It has surpassed
even the high standard of the nation. Two items may be given in
illustration : The t'^tal expenditures of the country in support of the
common schools in 1870 were $63,300,000; in 1880, $78,100,000; and
in 1890, $140,370,000, an average increase of nearly $4,000,000 per
annum. The value of school property has also greatly increased. In
1870 it was $130,380,000; in 1880, $209,571,000; and in 1890, $342,-

246 Life of William McKinley

876,000, an average increase per year of $10,000,000 for the whole
period.

"In addition to this great outlay by the nation and the states, Amer-
ica has just reason to be proud of the private benefactions which her
philanthropic citizens are constantly making to her colleges and univer-
sities. In the founding of public libraries and in aid of the higher
schools from 1871 to 1891 the amount of these gifts exceeded $80,000,-
000, or more than $4,000,000 a year. I have been pleased to observe
that this great University has not been neglected in this regard. The
wise beneficence of the late Hon. Henry F. Page, of Circleville, the
widow of the late Hon. Henry C. Noble, and, more recently, of the
Hon. Emerson jMcMillin, of Columbus, are examples worthy of emula-
tion by those who have been favored by fortune. Surely accumulated
wealth can find no object so deserving and so far-reaching in its benefits.

"But what has been the result of this unparalleled expenditure and
munificence? We behold, first, the most satisfactory progress in the
public schools, whose enrollment has now reached 13,203,877 pupils,
or twenty-three per cent of our entire population, a greater percentage
than that of any other nation in the world. The people were never
more willing to pour out their treasure for the support of these schools.
The annual expenditure in the United States compared with other coun-
tries shows how near they are to the hearts of the people. The expendi-
ture in Italy is $7,000,000, or twenty-five cents per capita; in Austria,
$12,000,000, or thirty cents per capita; in Germany, $26,000,000, or
fifty cents per capita; in France, $31,000,000, or eighty cents per
capita; in Great Britain $48,000,000, or $1.30 per capita; in the United
States, in 1892, $156,000,000, or $2.40 per capita. Our census returns
of 1890 show that eighty-se\-en per cent of our total population over
ten years of age can read and write. 'In the history of the human race,'
says Mulhall, the English statistician, 'no nation ever before possessed
41,000,000 instructed citizens.'

"But, Mr. President, we must not forget that the whole aim and
object of education is to elevate the standard of citizenship. The up-
lifting of our schools will undoubtedly result in a higher and better tone
in business and professional life. Old methods and standards may be
good, but they must advance with the new^ problems and needs of the
age. The collegiate methods of the Eighteenth Century will not suf-
fice for the Twentieth, any more than the packhorse could meet the
demands of the great freight trafific of today. This age demands an
education which, while not depreciating in any degree the inestimable
advantages of high intellectual culture, shall best fit the man and woman
for his or her calling, whatever it may be. In this the moral element

Our Martyred President 247

must not be omitted. Character — Christian character — is the founda-
tion upon which we must build if our institutions are to endure. Our
obhgations for the splendid advantages we enjoy should not rest upon
us too lightly. We owe to our country much. We must give in return
for these matchless educational opportunities the best results in our
lives. We must make our citizenship worthy the great Republic, intelli-
gent, patriotic, and self-sacrificing, or our institutions will fail of their
high purpose, and our civilization will inevitably decline. Our hope is
in the public schools and in the university. Let us fervently pray that
they may always be generously supported, and that those who go out
from these halls will be themselves the best witnesses of their force and
virtue in popular government." — Columbus, Ohio, June 12, 18^5.

AN AUXILIARY TO RELIGION.

''Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen: — I am very glad to join
with the citizens of Youngstown in celebrating the completion of this
beautiful building, dedicated to the young men for physical, moral,
and religious training. 1 congratulate the young men upon their good
fortune and unite with them in gratitude to the generous, public-spirited
people through whose efforts this Christian home has been established.
It will stand a monument to your city and an honor to those who have
shared in its erection. It will be an auxiliarv to all moral and relie-
ious effort. It will be the vestibule to the Church, and the gateway
to a higher and better Christian life. It will not take the place of the
Church, and other agencies for good, but it will supplement and strengthen
them all.

"It is a good omen for our civilization and country when these
Associations can be successfully planted as a part of the system of per-
manent education for the improvement and elevation of the masses;
it is another step upward and onward to a higher and grander Christian
civilization. It is another recognition of the Master who rules over all, a
worthy tribute to Him, who came on earth to save fallen man and lead
him to a higher plane. It is an expression of your faith in an overruling
Providence, and strengthens the faith of every believer. You have been
made better by the gifts you have bestowed upon this now completed
undertaking ; you have the approval of not only your own consciences, but
you have the gratitude of the present generation, and you will have,
in all time to come, the blessings of those who are to be the future
beneficiaries of this institution. Respect for true religion and righteous
living is on the iiicrease. Men no longer feel constrained to conceal
their faith to avoid derision. The religious believer commands and re-

248 Life of William McKinley

ceives the highest consideration at the hands of his neighbors and
countrymen, however much they may disagree with him; and when his
Hfe is made to conform to his rehgious professions, his influence is
almost without limitation, widespread and far-reaching.

"No man gets on so well in this world as he whose daily walk
and conversation are clean and consistent, whose heart is pure and whose
life is honorable. A religious spirit helps every man. It is at once a
comfort and an inspiration, and makes him stronger, wiser, and better
in every relation of life. There is no substitute for it. It may be
assailed by its enemies, as it has been, but they offer nothing in its place.
It has stood the test of centuries, and has never failed to help and bless
mankind. It is stronger today than at any previous period of its his-
tory, and every event like this you celebrate increases its permanency
and power. The world has use for the young man who is well grounded
in principle, who has reverence for truth and religion, and courageously
follows their teachings. Employment awaits his coming, and honor
crowns his path. More than all this., conscious of rectitude, he meets
the cares of life with courage; the duties which confront him he dis-
charges with manly honesty. These Associations elevate and purify
our citizenship, and establish more firmly the foundations of our free
institutions. The men who established this government had faith in
God and sublimely trusted in Him. They besought His counsel and
advice in every step of their progress. And so it has been ever since;
American history abounds in instances of this trait of piety, this sin-
cere reliance on a Higher Power in all great trials in our national affairs.
Our rulers may not always be observers of the outward forms of re-
ligion, but we have never had a president, from Washington to Harri-
son, who publicly avowed infidelity, or scoffed at the faith of the masses
of our people.

"It is told of Lincoln that he once called upon General Sickles, who
had just been brought from the field to Washington City, having lost
a leg in one of the charges at Gettysburg. His call was one of sym-
pathy, and, after he had inquired into every detail of that great and
crucial battle. General Sickles said to him :

" 'Mr. Lincoln, what did you think of Gettysburg ? Were you much
concerned about it?'

"Lincoln replied, *I thought very little about Gettysburg, and I had
no concern about it.'

"The general expressed great surprise, and said that he had under-
stood that the capital was in a great panic as to the outcome, and asked :

" 'Why were you not concerned about the battle of Gettysburg ?'

" 'Well,' replied the simple-minded Lincoln. 'I will tell you, if you

Our Martyred President 249

will not tell anybody about it. Before the battle I went into my room
at the White House, I knelt on my knees, and I prayed to God as I
had never prayed to Him before, and I told Him if He would stand
by us at Gettysburg I would stand by Him; and He did, and I shall.
And when I arose from my knees I imagined I saw a spirit that told me
I need not trouble about Gettysburg.'

''May this institution meet the fullest expectations of its founders
and projectors, and prove a mighty force in the well-being of the com-
munity! Interested as I am in every department of work in our state,
I can not avoid especial and peculiar interest in anything which bene-
fits the Mahoning Valley, the place where I was born, and where I
spent my younger manhood, and arbund which cling tender and affec-
tionate memories that can never be effaced. I am glad to share this
day with you, to participate in these exercises which open the doors of
this building to the young men of this valley, consecrated to honorable
uses, and for their lasting good. I wish you prosperity in your work-
shops, love in your homes, and bid you Godspeed in this laudable work."
— Dedication of Y. M. C. A. Building, Yoimgstown, 0., Sept. 6, 18^2,

PROSPERITY AND POLITICS.

"It is loudly proclaimed through the democratic press that prosperity
has come. I sincerely hope that it has. Whatever prosperity we have
has been a long time coming, and after nearly three years of business
depression, a ruinous panic and a painful and widespread suffering
among the people. I pray that we may be at the dawn of better times
and of enduring prosperity. I have believed it would come, in some
measure, with every successive republican victory. I have urged for
two years past that the election of a republican congress would strip
the democratic party of power to further cripple the enterprises of the
country, and would be the beginning of a return of confidence, and that
general and permanent prosperity could only come when the democratic
party was voted out of power in every branch of the national government,
and the republican party voted in, pledged to repeal their destructive
and un-American legislation, wdiich has so seriously impaired the pros-
perity of the people and the revenues and credit of the government.

"It is a most significant fact, however, that the activity in business we
have now is chiefly confined to those branches of industry which the
democratic party was forced to leave with some protection, notably, iron
and steel. There is no substantial improvement in those branches of
domestic industry where the lower duties or no duties on the democratic
tariff have sharpened and increased foreign competition. These Indus-

250 Life of William McKinley

tries are still lifeless, and if not lifeless, are unsatisfactory and unprofit-
able, both to capital and laB'or.

"There is a studied effort in certain quarters to show that the apparent
prosperity throughout the country is the result of democratic tariff
legislation. I do not think that those who assert this, honestly and
sincerely believe it. It is worth remembering, and can never be forgotten,
that there was no revival of business, no return of confidence or gleam
of hope in business circles, until the elections of 1894, which, by unprece-
dented majorities, gave the popular branch of congress to the republican
party, and took away from the democratic party the power to do further
harm to the industries of the country and the occupations of the people.
This was the aim, meaning and purpose of that vote. With the near
and certain return of the republican party to full possession of power
in the United States, comes naturally and logically increased faith in
the country and assurance to business men that, for years to come, they
will have rest and relief from democratic incompetency in the manage-
ment of the industrial and financial affairs of the government. Whatever
prosperity we are having (and just how much nobody seems to know),
and with all hoping for the best, and hoping that it may stay and increase,
and yet all breathless with suspense, is in spite of democratic legislation,
and not because of it.

"The republican party never conceals its purposes. They are an open
book to be read by every man. The whole world knows them; it has
embodied them in law, and executed them in administration almost unin-
terruptedly since the 4th of March, 1861. It has bravely met every
emergency in all those trying years, and has been adequate to every
public obligation and public duty. It is dedicated to the people ; it stands
for the United States; it believes that this government should be run
by ourselves and for ourselves ; its simple code is home and country ; its
central idea is the well-being of the people and all the people; it has no
aim which does not take into account the honor of the government and
the material and intellectual well-being and happiness of the people. We
can do no better than to stick to the old party — indeed, we can not do so
well as to stick to the old party which guided the republic for a third
of a century in safety and honor; which gave the country adequate
revenue, and, while doing that, gave capital profitable investment and
labor comfortable wages and steady employment; which guarded every
American interest at home and abroad with zealous care; which never
lowered the flag of our country, but whose business has ever been to exalt
it, and whose principles, the application of which has made us a nation
of happy homes, of independent and prospeious free-men." — Spring^field,
Ohio, Sept. JO, 1895.

Our Martyred President 2Ci

GEMS OF PATRIOTIC EXPRESSION.

"Every anniversary, national or local, properly observed, is a positive
good. It emphasizes the ties of home and country. It appeals to our
better aspirations and incites us to higher and nobler aims." — Youngs-
loivn, Ohio, Sept. 14, 188/.

"The admonition of Lincoln — to 'care for him who shall have borne
the battle and for his widow and his orphan' — will never be forgotten
or neglected so long as the republican party holds the reins of power.
Full justice will always be done to the soldiers and sailors of the Union."
— At Orrville, Ohio, Aug. 26, i8go.

"There is not a volunteer soldier before me, there is not a volunteer
of the republic anywhere, who would exchange his honorable record in
behalf of freedom and mankind, in behalf of the freest and best govern-
ment on the face of the earth, for any money consideration. His patriot-
ism is above price. It can not be bought. It is not merchandise for
barter. It is not in the market. I thank God there are some things that
money cannot buy, and patriotism is one of them." — Canton, Ohio, May
30, ipoi.

CHAPTER XXI.

William McKinley's Masterpieces of Eloquence.

Continued.

MEMORIAL DAY ADDRESS.

"This day has been given to the dead, but its lessons are intended for
the living. It has been the occasion for a generous manifestation on the
part of the people of their gratitude to the men who saved the country in
war. But its true intent will have been lost if it has failed to inspire
in all our hearts a deeper sentiment of patriotism and a stronger attach-
ment to those great ideas for which these men gave their lives. It is an
impressive fact to contemplate that today millions of our fellow citizens
from every part of the country have abandoned all thoughts of business,
and turned their footsteps to the places wdiere sleep our heroic dead, that
they may with loving hands and grateful hearts pay tender tribute to
their virtues and their valor. This consecration day is a popular demon-
stration of affection for the patriotic dead and bears unmistakable evi-
dence that patriotism in the United States has not declined or abated.

"There was nothing personally attractive about any of the features
of enlistment in the War of the Rebellion. It was business of the most
serious sort. Every soldier took a dreadful chance. His offering was
nothing short of his own life-blood if required. These, however, seemed
insignificant in that overmastering love of country, in that fervent
patriotism which filled the souls of the boys, in that high and noble
resolve which they all possessed, that they were to save to themselves, to
their families and their fellow countrymen, the freest and purest govern-
ment, and to mankind the largest liberty and the highest and best civiliza-
tion in the world. With that spirit more than two million men went forth
to accept any sacrifice which cruel war might exact. The extent of that
sacrifice exceeded human expectation, but it was offered, freely oft'ered.
for the country. Can we ever cease to be debtors to these men? Is
there anything they are not worthy to receive at our hands? Is there
any emolument too great for them ? Is -there any benefaction too bounti-
ful? Is there any obligation too lasting? Is there any honor too distin-
guished which a loving people can bestow that they ought not to receive?
What the nation is or may become we owe to them. If there is one of

253

Our Martyred President 253

these lighting patriots sick at heart and discouraged, the cheerful and
the strong, who are the beneficiaries of his valor, should comfort and
console him. If there is one who is sick or suffering from wounds, the
best skill and the most tender nursing should wait upon and attend him.

"It is interesting to note the size of our armies in the several wars
in which the United States has participated. The number of Colonial
troops in the Revolution was 294,791. In the War of 1812 the total
number of Americans was 576,622. In the Mexican War the troops
engaged for the United States numbered 1 12,230. The number of Union
troops engaged in the Rebellion was 2,859,000, or three times the com-
bined force of the .Vmerican army in all former wars. The magnitude
of the struggle is also strikingly illustrated by a comparison of casualties.
The casualties in the W^ar of 1812 were 1,877 killed in battle. 3,739
w^ounded. In the Mexican War, 1,049 were killed, 904 died of wounds,
and 3,420 were wounded. In the War of the Rebellion, 61,362 were
killed outright, 34,627 died of wounds, and 183,287 died of disease. In
other words, our casualties in the Rebellion in killed and those who
died of wounds and disease were only 15,000 less in number than the
entire army of the United Colonies in the war with Great Britain, and
two and one-half times the entire force engaged on the part of the United
States in the war with Mexico. But it gives as a truer idea of the dread-
ful sacrifices of the country to compare our casualties with the casualties
of European w^ars. At the battle of W^aterloo there w^ere 80,000 French,
with 252 guns, and of the Allies, 72,000 troops and 186 guns. The loss
of the French was 26,000, estimated, and of the Allies, 23,185. At our
battle of Gettysburg, the Union force engaged \vas 82,000 and 300 guns.
The Confederates had 70,000 troops and 250 guns. The loss was 25,203
to the Union forces, and 27,525 to the Confederate forces. Gravelotte
was the bloodiest battle of the Franco-Prussian W^ar, and the German
loss w^as in killed, 4,449, and wounded, 15,189, out of 146,000 troops
engaged. Meade's loss at Gettysburg was greater in numbers, while he
had only one-half as many men engaged.

"The pension list of the government tells well the story of the suffer-
ing of our great army. On June 30, 1893, pensions were paid to 725,742
invalid soldiers, and to 185,477 wddows. In the navy pensions were paid
to 16,901 invalid sailors and to 6,697 widows, making a grand total of
934,817 pensioners. Our pension roll on June 30, 1893, contained nearly
as many pensioners as the entire muster rolls of the United States in the
War of the Revolution, in the W^ar of 181 2, and the Mexican War
combined. Within 50,000 as many names are now borne on our pension
rolls as w^ere contained on the enlistment rolls of all our armies in every
war from the Revolution to the Civil War.

254 Life of William McKinley

"My comrades, this long and highly honorable list is being diminished
by death, and will rapidly decrease as the years go by. The pension roll
has probably now reached its maximum. Hereafter it is likely to recede.
Death will stalk through this patriotic list with increased rapidity as age
overtakes it, as it is hourly doing, that great army of 1861. The older
veterans cannot last a great while longer. Exposure has hastened to their
door the steps of the pale messenger. God grant that while they are still
with us they shall enjoy, without stint or grudge, the bounteous benefac-
tions of tlie country they served and the tender care and the generous
respect of their neighbors and fellow citizens! 'Displaced from the
pension roll' by death carries no taint or dishonor, raises no suspicion of
un worthiness. If the pension roll is diminished, or displacement occurs
from other causes, let it be for reasons just and honorable. Then the
patriotic sentiment of the country will approve and the soldiers of the
republic will be quick to applaud. Let us care for the needy survivors of
that great struggle in the true spirit of him who promised that the nation
would 'care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow
and his orphans.'

"Sumpter and Appomattox ! What a flood of memories these names
excite. How they come unbidden to every soldier as he contemplates the
great events of the war ! The one marked the beginning, the other the
close of the great struggle. At one the shot was fired which threatened
this Union and the downfall of liberty. The other proclaimed peace and
wrote in history tliat the machinations which inaugurated war to estab-
lish a government with slavery as its corner-stone had failed. The one
was the commencement of a struggle which drenched the nation in blood
for four years; the other was its end and the beginning of a reunited
country which has lasted now for twenty-nine years, and which, God
grant, may last forever and forever more, blazing the pathway of freedom
to the races of man everywhere, and loved by all the people of the world !
The one marked the wild rush of mad passion ; the other was the restora-
tion of the cool judgment, disciplined by the terrible ordeal of four years'
bloody war. Patriotism, justice and righteousness triumphed. The
republic which God had ordained withstood the shock of battle, and you
and your comrades were the willing instruments In the hands of that
Divine power tliat guides nations which love and serve Him.

"Howells, thirty-two years ago, expressed the simple and sublime
faith of tlie soldier, and the prophecy of the outcome of the war. In words
which burn In my soul whenever I pass in review the events of that
struggle. He said :

Our Martyred President 255

" 'Where are you going, soldiers,
With banner, gun, and sword ?'
'We're marching south to Canaan
To battle for the Lord !'

"Yes, the Lord took care of us then. Will we heed His decrees and
preserve unimpaired what He permitted us to win ? Liberty, my country-
men, is responsibility; responsibility is duty; duty is God's order, and
when faithfully obeyed will preserve liberty. We need have no fears
of the future if we will perform every obligation of duty and citizenship.
If we lose the smallest share of our freedom, we have no one to blame
but ourselves. This country is ours — ours to govern, ours to guide, ours
to enjoy. We are both sovereign and subject. All are now free,
subject henceforth to ourselves alone. We pay no homage to an early
throne ; only to God we bend the knee. The soldier did his work and did
it well. The present and the future are with the citizen, whose judgment
in our free country is supreme." — Music Hall, Canton, Ohio, May jo,
1894.

THE AMERICAN VOLUNTEER SOLDIER.

"Mr. President and Comrades of the Grand Army of the Republic,
and my Fellozv Citi::ens: — The Grand Army of the Republic is on duty
today. But not in the service of arms. The storm and siege and bivouac
and battle line have given place to the ministrations of peace and the
manifestations of affectionate regard for fallen comrades, in which the
great body of the people cheerfully and reverently unite. The service of
the day is more to us — far more to us — ^than to those in whose memory
it is performed. It means nothing to the dead, everything to the living.
It reminds us of what our stricken comrades did and sacrificed and won.
It teaches us the awful cost of liberty, and the price of national unity, and
bids us guard with sacred and sleepless vigilance the great and immortal
work which they wrought.

"The annual tribute which this nation brings to its heroic dead is, in
part at least due to American thought and conception, creditable to the
living and honorable to the dead. No nation in the world has so honored
her heroic dead as ours. The soldiery of no country in the world have
been crowned with such immortal meed or received at the hands of the
people such substantial evidences of national regard. Other nations have
decorated their great captains and have knighted their illustrious com-
manders. Monuments have been erected to perpetuate their names. Per-
manent and triumphal arches have been raised to mark their graves.
Nothing has been omitted to manifest and make immortal their valorous

256 Life of William McKinley

deeds. But to America is mankind indebted for the loving and touching
tribute this day performed, which brings the offerings of affection and
tokens of love to the graves of all our soldier dead. We not only honor
our great captains and illustrious commanders, the men who led the vast
armies to battle, but we shower ecjual honors in equal measure upon all,
irrespective of rank in battle or condition at home. Our gratitude is of
that grand patriotic character which recognizes no titles, permits no dis-
crimination, subordinates all distinctions ; and the soldier, whether of the
rank and file, the line or the staff, who fought and fell for liberty and
union — all who fought in the great cause and have since died, are warmly
cherished in the hearts, and are sacred to the memory of the people.

"Mr. President, from the very commencement of our Civil War we
recognized the elevated patriotism of the rank and file of the army and
their unselfish consecration to the country, while subsequent years have
only served to increase our admiration for their splendid and heroic
services. They enlisted in the army with no, expectation of promotion;
not for the paltry pittance of pay; not for fame or popular applause, for
their services, however efficient, were not to be heralded abroad. They
entered the army moved by the highest and purest motives of patriotism,
that no harm might befall the republic. While detracting nothing from
the fame of our matchless leaders, we know that, without that great
army of volunteers, the citizen soldiery, the brilliant achievements of
the war would not have been possible. They, my fellow citizens, were
the great power. They were the majestic and irresistible force. They
stood behind the strategic commanders, whose intelligent and individual
earnestness, guided by their genius, gained the imperishable victories
of the war. I would not withhold the most generous eulogy from con-
spicuous soldiers, living or dead — from the leaders, Grant, Sherman,
Sheridan, Thomas, Meade, Hancock, McClellan, Hooker, and Logan —
who flame out the very incarnation of soldiery valor and vigor before
the eyes of the American people, and have an exalted rank in history,
and fill a great place in the hearts of their countrymen. We need not
fear, my fellow citizens, that the great captains will be forgotten.

"My fellow citizens, the rank and file of the old regular army was
made of the same heroic mold as our volunteer army. It is a recorded
fact in history, that when treason swept over this country in 1861 — when
distinguished officers, who had been educated at the public expense, who
had taken the oath to support the constitution of the United States and
defend this government against all its enemies, when they proved recreant
to trust and duty, and enlisted under the banner of the Confederacy — the
rank and file of that old army stood steadfast to Federal authority, loyal
to the Federal government, and no private soldier followed his old com-

BIRTHPLACE OF McKINLEY.

THE EMERGENCY HOSPITAL, BUFFALO,

Our Martyred President 257

niancler into the ranks of the enemy. None were false to conscience or
to conntry. None tnrned their backs on the old flag.

"The most splendid exhibition of devotion to conntry, and to the
government, and to the flag, was displayed also by onr prisoners of war.
We had 175,000 soldiers taken prisoners during the Civil War, and
when death was stalking within the walls of their prisons, when starva-
tion was almost overcoming their brave hearts, when mind was receding
and reason was tottering, liberty was offered to those 175,000 men upon
one condition — that they would swear allegiance to the Confederate
government, and enlist in the cause of the Confederacy. What was the
answer of our brave but starving comrades? There could be but one
answer. They preferred to suffer all and to bear all rather than to prove
false to the cause they had sworn to defend.

"Now, so far removed from the great war, we are prone to forget
its disasters and underestimate its sacrifices. Their magnitude is best
appreciated when contrasted with the losses and sacrifices of other
armies in other times. There were slain in the late war nearly 6,000
commanding officers and over 90,000 enlisted men, and 207,000 died
of disease and from exposure, making a grand total of 303,000 men. In
the War of the Revolution between the United States and Great Britain,
excluding those captured at Yorktown and Saratoga, the whole number
of men killed and wounded and captured of the combined British and
American forces was less than 22,000. We witnessed that loss in a
single battle in a single day in the great Civil War. From 1775 to 1861,
Including all the foreign wars in which we were engaged, and all our
domestic disturbances, covering a period of nearly twenty-four years, we
lost but ten general officers, while in the four and a half years of the late
war, we lost one hundred and twenty-five.

"And, my fellow citizens, we not only knew little of the scope and
proportions of that great war, or the dreadful sacrifice to be incurred, but
as little knew the great results which were to follow. We thought at the
beginning, and we thought long after the commencement of the war,
that the Union to be saved was the Union as it was. That was our
understanding when we enlisted — that it was the Constitution and the
Union — the Constitution as it was and the Union as it was — for which
we fought, little heeding the teachings of history, that wars and
revolutions cannot fix in advance the boundaries of their influence
or determine the scope of their power. History enforces no sterner
lesson. Our own revolution of 1776 produced results unlooked for
by its foremost leaders. Separation was no part of the original pur-
pose. Political alienation was no part of the first plan. Disunion was
neither thought of nor accepted. Why, in 1775, on the 5th day of July,

258 Life of William McKinley

in Philadelphia, when the continental congress was in session declaring
its purposes toward Great Britain, what did it say ? After declaring that
it would raise armies, it closed that declaration with this significant
language :

" 'Lest this declaration should disquiet the minds of some of our
friends and fellow subjects in other parts of the empire, we assure them
that we do not mean to dissolve the union which has so long and happily
subsisted between us.'

"Our fathers said in that same declaration :

" 'We have not raised armies with ambitious designs to separate from
Great Britain and establish independent states.'

"Those were the views of the fathers. Those were the views enter-
tained by the soldiers and statesmen of colonial days. Why, even the
Declaration of Independence, which has sounded the voice of liberty to
all mankind, was a shock to some of the colonists. The cautious and
conservative, while believing in its eternal truth, doubted its wisdom
and its policy. It was in advance of the thought of the great body of
the people. Yet it stirred a feeling for independence, and an aspiration
for self-government, which made a republic which has now lived more
than a century ; and only a few days ago you were permitted to celebrate
the centennial inauguration in this city of its first great president. Out
of all that came a republic that stands for human rights and human des-
tiny, which to-day represents more than any other government the
glorious future of the human race.

"Comrades of the Grand Army of the Republic, those were brave men
whose graves we decorated to-day. No less brave were those whose
chambers of repose are beneath the scarlet fields in distant states. We
may say of all them I's was said of Knights of St. John in the Holy
Wars : 'In the forefront of every battle was seen their burnished mail,
and in the gloomy rear of every retreat was heard their voice of con-
science and of courage.' 'It is not,' said Mr. Lincoln, 'what we say of
them, but what they did, which will live.' They have written their own
histories, they have builded their own monuments. No poor words of
mine can enhance the glory of their deeds, or add a laurel to their fame.
Liberty owes them a debt which centuries of tribute and mountains of
granite adorned by the master hands of art can never repay. And so long
as liberty lasts and the love of liberty has a place in the hearts of men,
they will be safe against the tooth of time and the fate of oblivion.

"The nation is full of the graves of the dead. You have but a small
fraction of them here in New York, although you contributed one-
tenth of all the dead, one-tenth of all the dying, one-tenth of all the
prisoners, one-tenth of all the sacrifices in that great conflict. You have

Our Martyred President 2^g

but a small number here; the greater number sleep in distant states,
thousands and tens of thousands of them of whom there is no record.
We only know that fighting for freedom and union they fell, and that
the place where they fell was their sepulchre. The Omniscient One alone
knows who they are and whence they came. But when their immortal
names are called from their silent muster, when their names are spoken,
the answer will come back, as it was the custom for many years in one
of the French regiments when the name of De la Tour d'Auvergne was
called, the answer came back, 'Died on the field of honor.' America has
volumes of muster-rolls containing just such a record.

"Mr. President and comrades of the Grand Army of the Republic,
our circle is narrowing with the passing years. Every annual roll-call
discloses one and another not present, but accounted for. There is a
muster-roll over yonder as well as a muster-roll here. The majority of
that vast army are fast joining the old commanders who have preceded
them on that other shore,

" 'They are gone who seemed so great —

Gone ! but nothing can bereave them
Of the force they made their own

Being here ; and we believe them
Something far advanced in state,

And that they wear a truer crown
Than any wreath that man can weave them.

Speak no more of their renown,
And in the vast cathedral leave them.
God accept them; Christ receive them.' "
Metropolitan Opera House, Nczv York, May jo, i88g.

ULYSSES S. GRANT.

"Mr. President, Citizens of Galena, Ladies and Gentlemen: — I cannot
forbear at the outset to express to you the very great honor that I feel
in being permitted to share with you, at the city of Galena, in the observ-
ance of the seventy-first anniversary of the l)irth of that great soldier
who once belonged to you, but now, as Stanton said to Lincoln, 'belongs
to the ages.' No history of the war could be written without mentioning
the state of Illinois and city of Galena. They contributed the two most
conspicuous names in the great civil conflict, the civil and military
rulers — Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant, No history of Ulysses
S. Grant can be written without there coming unbidden from every lip
the name Galena, and no faithful biography of the great soldier will ever
omit the name of his cherished friend, General John A. Rawlins, also a

26o Life of William McKinley

resident of your city. You have a proud history ; Grant gave his sword
and his services to his country at Galena, and gave the country back to
the people at Appomattox. He presided over the first Union meeting
ever held in Galena, and he presided over the greatest Union meeting
ever held beneath the flag at Appomattox. He was little known at the
first meeting ; the whole world knew him at the last.

"We are not a nation of hero-worshipers. Our popular favorites
are soon counted. With more than a hundred years of national life,
crowded with great events and marked by mighty struggles, few of the
great actors have more than survived the generation in which they lived.
Nor has the nation or its people been ungenerous to its great leaders,
whether as statesmen or soldiers. The republic has dealt justly, and I
believe liberally, with its public men. Yet less than a score of them are
remembered by the multitude, and the student of history only can call
many of the most distinguished but now forgotten names. How few can
recall the names of the presidents of the United States in the order of
their administrations ; fewer still can name the governors of Illinois, and
the United States senators who have represented this state in that great
legislative body.

"This distinguished citizen, whose life we commemorate, and the
anniversary of whose birth we pause to celebrate to-day, was born at
Point Pleasant, Clermont county, Ohio, on April 27, 1822. His early
life was not eventful. It did not differ from that of most of the boys of
his time, and gave no more promise than that of the multitude of youth
of his age and station, either of the past or present. Of Scottish descent,
he sprang from humble but industrious parents, and with faith and cour-
age, with a will and mind for work, he confronted the problem of life.

"At the age of seventeen he was sent as a cadet to the West Point
Military Academy; his predecessor having failed to pass the necessary
examination, the vacancy was filled by the appointment of young Grant.
At the academy he was marked as a painstaking, studious, plodding,
persistent pupil, who neither graduated at the head nor the foot of his
class, but stood number twenty-one in a class of thirty-nine. His rank
at graduation placed him in the infantry arm of the service, and in 1843
he was commissioned a brevet second lieutenant in the Fourth United
States Regulars, No qualities of an exceptional nature showed them-
selves up to this point in the character of the young officer.

"His first actual experience in war was in Mexico. Here he distin-
guished himself, and was twice mentioned in general orders for his con-
spicuous gallantry. He was twice brevetted by the President of the
United States for heroic conduct at the battles of Monterey, Palo Alto.
Resaca de la Palma, Chapultepec, and Molino del Rey, After the war

Our Martyred President 261

with Mexico he was stationed with his regiment on the northern frontier,
and subsequently on the Pacific coast in Oregon and Cahfornia, in which
latter station he saw much trying service with the Indians, On July
31, 1854, he resigned his commission in the army, after eleven years'
service therein — a service creditable to him in every particular, but in no
sense so marked as to distinguish him from a score of others of equal
rank and opportunity.

"He was successful from the very beginning of his military command.
His earliest, like his later blows, were tellingly disastrous to the enemy.
First at Paducah, then defeating Polk and Pillow at Belmont; again at
Fort Henry, which he captured. Then he determined to destroy Fort
Donelson, and with rare coolness and deliberation he settled himself
down to the task, which he successfully accomplished on February 16,
1862. After two days of severe battle, 12,000 prisoners and their belong-
ings fell into his hands, and the victory w^as sweeping and complete. He
was immediately commissioned major-general of volunteers, in recogni-
tion of his brilliant triumph, and at once secured the confidence of the
president and trusting faith of the loyal North, while the men at the
front turned their eyes hopefully to their coming commander. His
famous dispatch to General Buckner, who had proposed commissioners
to negotiate for capitulation — 'No terms except an unconditional and
immediate surrender can be accepted; I propose to move immediately
upon your works' — electrified the country, and sent cheer to every loyal
heart at home and to the brave defenders in the field. It sounded the note
of confidence and victory, and gave to the Union cause and lovers of the
Union new and fervent hope. It breathed conscious strength, disclosed
immeasurable reserve power, and quickened the whole North to grander
efiforts and loftier patriotism for the preservation of the Union.

"On March 17, 1864, a little more than three years from his departure
from Galena, where he w^as drilling your local company as a simple cap-
tain. Grant assumed the control of all the Federal forces, wherever
located, and in less than fourteen months Lee's army, the pride and glory
of the Confederate government, surrendered to the victorious soldier.
It was not a surrender without resistance — skillful, dogged resistance.
It was secured after many battles and fierce assaults, accompanied l)y
indescribable toil and sufTering, and the loss of thousands of precious
lives. The battles of the Wilderness, Spottsylvania, North Anna and
Cold Harbor, and the siege of Petersburg, witnessed the hardest fighting
and the severest sacrifices of the war, while the loss of brave men in the
trenches was simplv appalling. The historian has wearied in detailing
them, and the painter's hand has palsied with reproducing the scenes of
blood and carnage there enacted. General Grant not only directed the

262 Life of William McKinley

forces in front of Richmond, but the entire line of operation of all our
armies was under his skillful hand and was moved by his masterful mind.
The entire field was the theater of his thought, and to his command all
moved as a symmetrical whole, harmonious to one purpose, centering
upon one grand design. In obedience to his orders, Sherman was march-
ing, fighting, and winning victories with his splendid army in Georgia,
extending our victorious banners farthei^ and deeper into the heart of
the Confederacy; and all the while the immortal Thomas was engaging
the enemy in another part of the far-stretching field, diverting and
defeating the only army which might successfully impede the triumphant
march of Sherman to the sea. Sheridan, of whom General Grant said
the only instruction he ever required was 'to go in,' was going into the
Shenandoah Valley, that disputed field, the scene of Stonewall Jackson's
fame. Here his dashing army, driving by storm and strategy the deter-
mined forces of Early, sent them whirling back, stripped of laurels pre-
viously won, without either their artillery or battle-flags. Scofield had
done grand work at Franklin, and later occupied Wilmington and Golds-
boro, on the distant seacoast, with a view to final connection with Sher-
man. These movements, and more, absorbed the mind of the great
commander.

"The liberal terms given to Lee at Appomattox revealed in the breast
of the hard fighter a soft and generous heart. He wanted no vengeance ;
he had no bitterness in his soul ; he had no hates to avenge. He believed
in war only as a means of peace. His large, brave, gentle nature made
the surrender as easy to his illustrious foe as was possible. He said,
with the broadest humanit}^ : 'Take your horses and side-arms, all of
your personal property and belongings, and go home, not to be disturbed,
not to be punished for treason, not to be outcasts ; but go, cultivate the
fields whereon you fought and lost. Yield faithful allegiance to the old
flag and the restored Union, and obey the laws of peace.' Was ever, such
magnanimity before shown by victor to vanquished? Here closed the
great war, and with it the active military career of the great com-
mander.

"His civil administration covered eight years — two full terms as pres-
ident of the United States. This new exaltation was not of his own
asking. He preferred to remain general of the army with which he had
been so long associated and in which he had acquired his great fame.
The country, however, was determined that the successful soldier should
be its civil ruler. The loyal people felt that they owed him the highest
honors which the nation could bestow, and they called him from the
military to the civil head of the government. His term commenced in
March, 1869, and ended in March, 1877. It constituted one of the

Our Martyred President 263

important periods of our national life. If the period of Washington's
administration involved the formation of the Union, that of Grant's was
confronted with its reconstruction, after the bitter, relentless, internal
struggle to destroy it. It was a most delicate era in which to rule. It
Avould have been difticult, embarrassing and hazardous to any man, no
matter how gifted, or what his previous .preparation or equipment might
have been. Could any one have done better than he ? We will not pause
to discuss. Different opinions prevail, and on this occasion we do not
enter the field of controversy ; but, speaking for myself, I believe he was
exactly the man for the place, and that he filled to its full measure the
trust to which his fellow citizens called him. He committed errors. Who
could have escaped them, at such a time and in such a place? He stood
in his civil station battling for the legitimate fruits of the war, that they
might be firmly secured to the living and to their posterity forever. His
arm was never lifted against the right; his soul abhorred the wrong. His
veto of the inflation bill, his organization of the Geneva Arbitration Com-
mission to settle the claims of the United States against England, his
strong but conciliatory foreign policy, his constant care to have no policy
against the will of the people, his enforcement of the constitution and
its amendments in every part of the Republic, his maintenance of the
credit of the government and its good faith at home and abroad, marked
his administration as strong, wise, and patriotic. Great and wise as his
civil administration was, however, the achievements which made him 'one
of the immortal few whose names will never die' are found in his military
career. Carping critics have sought to mar it, strategists have found
flaws in it, but in the presence of his successive, uninterrupted, and unri-
valed victories, it is the idlest chatter which none should heed. He was
always ready to fight. If beaten to-day, he resumed battle on the mor-
row, and his pathway was all along crowned with victories and surren-
ders, which silence criticism, and place him side by side with the mighty
soldiers of the world.

"With no disparagement to others, two names rise above all the rest
in American history since George Washington — transcendently above
them. They are Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant. Each will be
remembered for what he did and accomplished for his race and for man-
kind. Lincoln proclaimed liberty to four million slaves, and upon his
act Invited 'the considerate judgment of mankind and the gracious favor
of Almighty God.' He has received the warm approval of the one, and I
am sure he is enjoying the generous benediction of the other. His was the
greatest, mightiest stroke of the war. Grand on Its humanity side, mas-
terly in Its mllitarv aspect. It has given to his name an Imperlshal)le place
among men. Grant gave Irresistible power and efficacy to the Proclama-

264 Life of William McKinley

tion of Liberty. The iron shackles which Lincohi declared should be
loosed from the limbs and souls of the black slaves, Grant with his
matchless army melted and destroyed in the burning glories of the war ;
and ihe rebels read the inspired decree in the flashing guns of his artil-
lery, and they knew what Lincoln had decreed Grant would execute.

"He had now filled the full measure of human ambition, and drunk
from every fountain of earthly glory. He had commanded mighty legions
on a hundred victorious fields. He had borne great responsibilities and
exercised almost limitless power. He had executed every trust with
fidelity, and, in the main, with consummate skill. He had controlled the
movement of a larger army than had been commanded by any other sol-
dier, the world over, since the invention of firearms. He was made
general of the United States army by congress on July 25, 1866 — a rank
and title never given to an American soldier before. He had won the
lasting gratitude of his fellow countrymen, and whenever or wherever he
went among them they crowned him with fresh manifestations of their
love and veneration — and no reverses of fortune, no errors of judgment,
no vexatious and unfortunate business complications ever shook their
trustful confidence. When he sought rest in other lands, crowned heads
stood uncovered in his presence and laid their trophies at his feet, while
the struggling toiler, striving for a larger liberty, offered his earnest
tribute to the great warrior who had made liberty universal in the Repub-
lic. Everywhere he went grateful honors greeted him, and he was wel-
comed as no American had been before. He girded the globe with his
renown as he journeyed in the pathway of the sun. Nothing of human
longing or aspiration remained unsatiated. He had enjoyed all the honors
which his lavish countrymen could bestow, and had received the respectful
homage of foreign nations.

"His private life was beautiful in its purity and simplicity. No irrev-
erent oath passed his lips, and his conversation was as chaste and unaf-
fected as that of simple childhood. His relations with his family were
tender and affectionate.

"Only a few years ago, in one of his journeys through the South,
when he was receiving a great ovation, some colored men crowded his
hotel to look into the face and to grasp the hand of their great deliverer.
To this intrusion objection was made, and the colored men were about
to be ejected, when the general appeared, and in his quiet way, full of
earnest feeling, said : 'Where I am they shall come also.' He believed
in the brotherhood of man — in the political equality of all men — he had
secured that with his sword, and was prompt to recognize it in all places
and everywhere.

"But. mv friends, Death had marked him for a victim. He foucrht

Our Martyred President 265

Death with his iron will and his old-time courage, but at last yielded, the
first and only time the great soldier was ever vanquished. He had routed
every other foe, he had triumphed over every other enemy, but this last
one conquered him, as in the end he conquers all. He, however, stayed
his fatal hand long enough to permit Grant to finish the last great work
of his life — to write the history he had made. True, that history had been
already written — written in blood, in the agony of the dying and in the
tears of the suffering nation ; written in tlie hearts of her patriotic people.
The ready pens of others had told more than a thousand times the match-
less story; the artist had, a hundred times, placed upon canvas the soul-
stirring scenes in which Grant was the central figure; the sculptor had
cut its every phase in enduring marble, yet a kind Providence mercifully
spared him a few months longer, that he who had seen it and directed it
should sum up the great work wrought by the grand army of the Repub-
lic under his magic guidance. He was not an old man when he died;
but, after all, what a complete life was his !

"Mighty events and mightier achievements were never crowded into a
single life before, and he lived to place them in enduring form, to be read
by the millions living and the millions yet unborn. Then laying down
his pen, he bowed resignedly before the Angel of Death, saying: Tf it
is God's providence that I shall go now, I am ready to obey His will with-
out a murmur.' Great in life, majestic in death ! He needs no monument
to perpetuate his fame; it will live and glow wath increased luster so long-
as liberty lasts and the love of liberty has a place in the hearts of men.
Every soldier's monument throughout the North, now standing or here-
after to be erected, will record his worth and w^ork, as well as those of
the brave men who fought by his side. Plis most lasting memorial will
be the work he did, his most enduring monument the Union which he
and his heroic associates saved, and the priceless liberty they secured.

"Surrounded by a devoted family, with a mind serene and a heart
resigned, he passed over to join his fallen comrades beyond the river, on
another field of glory. Above him in his chamber of sickness and death
hung the portraits of Washington and Lincoln, whose disembodied spirits
in the Eternal City were watching and waiting for him who was to com-
plete the immortal trio of America's first and best beloved; and as the
earthly scenes receded from his view, and the celestial appeared, I can
imagine those were the first to greet his sight and bid him welcome.

"We are not a nation of hero-worshipers. We are a nation of
generous freemen. We bow in affectionate reverence and with most
grateful hearts to these immortal names, Washington, Lincoln, and
Grant, and will guard with sleepless vigilance their mighty work and
cherish their memories evermore.

266 Life of William McKinley

" 'They were the luster hghts of their day,
The . . . giants
Who clave the darkness asunder
And beaconed us where we are.' "
Galena, III., April 2/, i8pj, Grant's Birthday.

ADDRESS AT THE DEDICATION OF THE GRANT

MONUMENT.

"a great life, dedicated to the welfare of the nation^ here finds

ITS earthly coronation."

"A great life, dedicated to the welfare of the nation, here finds its
early coronation. Even if this day lacked the impressiveness of cere-
mony, and was devoid of pageantry, it would still be memorable, because
it is the anniversary of the birth of one of the most famous and best
beloved of American soldiers.

"Architecture has paid high tribute to the leaders of mankind, but
never was a memorial more worthily bestowed or more gratefully accepted
by a free people than the beautiful structure before which we are gathered.

"In marking the successful completion of this work we have as wit-
nesses and participants representatives of all branches of our government,
the resident officials of foreign nations, the governors of states, and the
sovereign people from every section of our common country, who join in
this august tribute to the soldier, patriot and citizen.

first to be called.

"Almost twelve years have passed since the heroic vigil ended and
the Ijrave spirit of Ulysses S. Grant fearlessly took its flight. Lincoln
and Stanton had preceded him, but of the mighty captains of the war
Grant was the first to be called. Sherman and Sheridan survived him, but
have since joined him on the other shore.

"The great heroes of the civil strife on land and sea are for the most
part now no more. Thomas and Hancock, Logan and McPherson, Far-
ragut, Dupont and Porter, and a host of others, have passed forever from
human sight. Those remaining grow dearer to us, and from them and
the memory of those who have departed generations yet unborn will draw
their inspiration and gather strength for patriotic purpose.

"A great life never dies. Great deeds are imperishable ; great names
immortal. Gen. Grant's services and character will contitme undimin-
ished in influence and advance in the estimation of mankind so long as
liberty remains the corner-stone of free government and integrity of life
the guaranty of good citizenship.

Our Martyred President 267

FEARLESS AS A SOLDIER.

"Faithful and fearless as a volunteer soldier, intrepid and invincible
as commander in chief of .the armies of the Union, calm and confident as
president of a reunited and strengthened nation which his genius had
been instrumental in achieving, he has our homage and that of the world ;
but, brilliant as was his public character, we love him all the more for his
home life and homely virtues. His individuality, his bearing and speech,
his simple ways, had a flavor of rare and unique distinction, and his
Americanism was so true and uncompromising that his name will stand
for all time as the embodiment of liberty, loyalty and national unity.

Victorious in the work which under Divine Providence he was called
upon to do, clothed with almost limitless power, he was yet one of the
people — patient, patriotic and just. Success did not disturb the even
balance of his mind, while fame was powerless to swerve him from the
path of duty. Great as he was in war, he loved peace and told the world
that honorable arbitration of differences was the best hope of civilization.

"With Washington and Lincoln, Grant has an exalted place in his-
tory and the affections of the people. Today his memory is held in equal
esteem by those whom he led to victory and by those who accepted his
generous terms of peace. The veteran leaders of the blue and the gray
here meet not only to honor the name of the departed Grant, but to testify
to the living reality of a fraternal national spirit which has triumphed
over the differences of the past and transcended the limitations of sec-
tional lines. Its completion, which we pray God to speed, will be the
nation's greatest glory.

FITTING RESTING PLACE.

"It is right, then, that Gen. Grant should have a memorial commen-
surate with his greatness, and that his last resting place should be the
city of his choice, to which he was so attached in life and of whose ties
he was not forgetful even in death. Fitting, too, is it that the great
soldier should sleep beside the native river on whose banks he first learned
the art of war and of which he became master and leader without a rival.

"But let us not forget the glorious distinction with which the metrop-
olis among the fair sisterhood of American cities has honored his life and
memory. With all that riches and sculpture can do to render the edifice
worthy of the man, upon a site unsurpassed for magnificence, has this
monument been reared by New York as a perpetual record of his illus-
trious deeds in the certainty that as time passes around it will assemble
witli gratitude and reverence and veneration men of all climes, races and
nationalities.

268 Life of William McKinley

"New York holds in its keeping the precious dust of the silent soldier;
but his achievements — which he and his brave comrades wrought for
mankind — are in the keeping of seventy millions of American citizens
who will guard the sacred heritage forever and forevermore."

JOHN A. LOGAN.

"Mr. Speaker: — A great citizen who filled high public stations for
more than a quarter of a century has passed away, and the House of Rep-
resentatives turns aside from its usual public duties that it may place in
its permanent and otihcial record a tribute to his memory, and manifest
in some degree its appreciation of his lofty character and illustrious
services. General Logan was a conspicuous figure in war, and scarcely
less conspicuous in peace. Whether on the field of arms or in the forum-
where ideas clash, General Logan was ever at the front.

"Mr. Speaker, he was a leader of men, having convictions, with the
courage to utter and enforce them in any place and to defend them
against any adversary. He was never long in the rear among the fol-
lowers. Starting there, his resolute and resistless spirit soon impressed
itself upon his fellows, and he was quickly advanced to his true and
rightful rank of leadership. Without the aid of fortune, without the aid
of influential friends, he won his successive stations of honor by the
force of his own integrity and industry, his own high character and
indomitable will. And it may be said of him that he justly represents
one of the best types of American manhood, and illustrates in his life
the outcome and the possibilities of the American youth under the gen-
erous influences of our free institutions.

"Participating in two wars, the records of both attest his courage
and devotion, his valor, and his sacrifices for the country which he loved
so well, and to which he more than once dedicated everything he pos-
sessed, even life itself. Reared a democrat, he turned away from many
of the old party leaders when the trying crisis came which was to deter-
mine whether the Union was to be saved or to be severed. He joined
his old friend and party leader, Stephen A. Douglas, with all the ardor
of his strong nature, and the safety and preservation of the Union became
the overshadowing and absorbing purpose of his life. His creed was his
country. Patriotism was the sole plank in his platform. Everything
must yield to this sentiment ; every other consideration was subordinate
to it; and so he threw the whole force of his great character at the
very outset into the struggle for national life. He resigned his seat in
congress to raise a regiment, and it is a noteworthy fact that in the
congressional district which he represented more soldiers were sent to
the front according to its population than in any other congressional

Our Martyred President 269

district in the United States. It is a further significant fact, that, in i860,
wh.en he ran for congress as a democratic candidate, in what was known
as the old Ninth Congressional District, he received a majority of over
13,000; and six years afterward, when at the conclusion of the war he
ran as a candidate of the republican party in the state of Illinois as
representative to congress at large, the same old Ninth District, that
had given him a democratic majority of 13,000 in i860, gave him a
republican majority of over 3,000 in 1866. Whatever else these facts
may teach, Mr. Speaker, they clearly show one thing — that John A.
Logan's old constituency approved of his course, was proud of his illus-
trious services, and followed the flag which he bore, which was the
Flag of the Stars.

"His service in this house and in the senate, almost uninterruptedly,
since 1867, was marked by great industry, by rugged honesty, by devo-
tion to the interests of the country, and to the whole country, to the rights
of the citizen, and especially by a devotion to the interests of his late
comrades-in-arms. He was a strong and forcible debater. He was a
most thorough master of the subjects he discussed, and an intense
believer in the policy and principles he advocated. In popular discussion
upon the hustings he had no superiors, and but few equals. He seized
the hearts and the consciences of men, and moved great multitudes with
that fury of enthusiasm with which he moved his soldiers in the field.

"Mr. Speaker, it is high tribute to any man, it is high tribute to
John A. Logan, to say that, in the House of Representatives, where sat
Thaddeus Stevens and Robert C. Schenck, James G. Blaine and James A.
Garfield, Henry Winter Davis and William D. Kelley, he stood ec|ual
in favor and in power in party control. And it is equally high tribute to
him to say that in the senate of the United States, where sat Charles
Sumner and Oliver P. Morton, Hanibal Hamlin and Zachariah Chandler,
John Sherman and George F. Edmunds, Roscoe Conkling and Justin S.
Morrill, he fairly divided with them the power and responsibility of repub-
lican leadership. No higher eulogy can be given to any man, no more
honorable distinction could be coveted. He lived during a period of
very great activities and forces, and he impressed himself upon his age
and time. To me the dominant and controlling force in his life was his
intense patriotism.

"It stamped all his acts and utterances, and was the chief inspiration
of the great work he wrought. His book, recently published, is a
masterly appeal to the patriotism of the people. His death, so sudden
and unlooked for, was a shock to his countrymen, and caused universal
sorrow among all classes in every part of the Union. No class so deeply
mourned his taking away as the great volunteer army and their surviving

^yo Life of William McKinley

families and friends. They were closely related to him. They regarded
him as their never-failing friend. He had been first commander-in-chief
of the Grand Army of the Republic, and to him this mighty soldier
organization, numbering more than four hundred thousand, was inaebted
for much of its efficiency in the field of charity. He was the idol of the
army in which he served — the ideal citizen volunteer of the Republic, the
pride of all the armies, and affectionately beloved by all who loved the
Union.

"Honored and respected by his commanders, held in affectionate
regard by the rank and file, who found in him a heroic leader and devoted
friend, he advocated the most generous bounties and pensions, and much
of this character of legislation was constructed by his hand. So in
sympathy was he with the brave men who risked all for country, that
lie demanded for them the most generous treatment. I heard him declare
last summer, to an audience of ten thousand people, gathered from all
sections of the country, at the annual encampment of the Grand Army
of the Republic at San Francisco, that he believed that the government
should grant from its -overflowing treasury and boundless resources a
pension to every Union soldier who was incapable of taking care of
himself, asserting with all the fervor of his patriotic soul that the gov-
ernment was unworthy of itself and of the blood and treasure it cost
if it would suffer any of its defenders to become inmates of the poor-
houses of the land, or be the objects of private charity.

"Mr. Speaker, the old soldiers will miss him. The old oak around
which their hearts were entwined, to which their hopes clung, has fallen.
The old veterans have lost their steady friend. The congress of the
United States has lost one of its ablest counselors, the republican party
one of its confessed leaders, the country one of its noble defenders." —
House of Representatives, February lo, i88/.

CHAPTER XXII.

* William McKinley's Masterpieces of Eloquence.

Continued.

JULY FOURTH AT WOODSTOCK.

''Mr. President and my Fellow Citizens: — Since 1870 this spot has
witnessed the celebration of the anniversary of our national independence.
They have been memorable occasions. It gives me peculiar pleasure to
meet the people of New England upon this day, and upon this ground,
and especially is it pleasing to me to respond for the first time that I have
been able to do so to the many generous invitations that I have received
from Mr. Bowen, to whom you and all of us are indebted for this patriotic
assemblage. I have liked Henry C. Bowen for a good many things. I
have admired him since more than forty years ago, when, in the midst
of great political agitation as a merchant of the city of New York, he
said : 'Our goods are for sale, but not our principles.' It was this
spirit that guided the revolutionary fathers, and that has won for free-
dom every single victory since.

"Now, what is the meaning of this day and celebration? Simply that
what we have achieved must be perpetrated in its strength and purity, not
giving up one jot or tittle of the victories won. More we do not ask,
less we will not have. There never was a wrong for which there was not
a remedy. There never was a crime against the constitution that there
was not a way somewhere and somehow found to prevent or punish;
there never was such an abuse that did not suggest a reform that pointed
to justice and righteousness. I am not so much troubled how the thing
is to be done as I am troubled that the living shall do what is right, as
the living see the right. The future will take care of itself if we will do
right. As Gladstone said in his peroration presenting the remedial
legislation of Ireland :

"'Walking in the path of justice we can not err; guided by that
light we are safe. Every step we take upon our road brings us nea^'er
to the goal, and every obstacle, though it seem for the moment insur-
mountable, can only for a little while retard, never defeat, the fatal
triumph.'

"The Fourth of July is memorable among other things because

871

T]i Life of William McKinley

George Washington signed the first great industrial measure on that
day. The very first industrial financial measure that was ever passed
in the United States was signed by him on the 4th day of July, 1789,
and therefore I did not think there was any impropriety in Senator
Aldrich talking about the tariff on this day and occasion. It would
not be proper for me to make a tariff speech here, although it has been
suggested, but I may say w'ith propriety, I am always for the United
States. I believe in the American idea of liberty, so eloquently described
by Chauncey Depew this morning. I believe in American independence,
— not only political independence, but industrial independence as well ;
and if I were asked to tell in a single sentence what constitutes tlie
strength of the American Republic, I would say it w^as the American
home, and whatever makes the x^merican home the best, the purest, and
the most exalted in the world. It is our homes w-hich exalt the coun-
try and its citizenship above those of any other land. I have no objec-
tion to foreign products, but I do like home products better. I am not
against the foreign product, I am in favor of it — for taxation ; but I
am for the domestic production for consumption.

"In no country is there so much devolving upon the people relating
to government as in ours. Unlike any other nation, here the people
rule, and their will is supreme law. It is sometimes sneeringly said by
those who do not like free government, that here w^e count heads. True,
heads are counted, but brains also. And the general sense of sixty-three
millions of free people is better and safer than the sense of any favored
few, born to nobility and ruling by inheritance. This nation, if it would
continue to lead in the race of progress and liberty, must do it through
the intelligence and conscience of its people. Every honest and God-
fearing man is a mighty factor in the future of the Republic. Educated
men, business men, professional men, should be the last to shirk the
responsibilities attaching to citizenship in a free government. They
should be practical and helpful — mingling with the people— not selfish
and exclusive. It is not necessary that every man should enter into
politics, or adopt it as a profession, or seek political preferment, but
it is the duty of every man to give personal attention to his political
duties. They are as sacred and binding as any we have to perform.

"We reach the wider field of politics and shape the national policy
through the town meeting and the party caucus. They should neither
be despised nor avoided, but made potent in securing the best agents
for executing the popular will. The influence which goes forth from
the township or precinct meeting is felt in state and national legisla-
tion, and is at last embodied in the permanent forms of law and written
constitutions. I can not too earnestly invite you to the closest personal

■f|^?C5-?*. f^i

ASSASSINATION SCENE

Our Martyred President 273

attention to party and political caucuses and the primary meetings of
your respective parties. They constitute that which goes to make up,
at last, the popular will. They lie at the basis of all true reform. It
will not do to hold yourself aloof from politics and parties. If the
party is wrong, make it better; that's the business of the true partisan
and good citizen, for whatever reforms any of us may hope to accom-
plish must come through united party and political action." — Wood-
stocky Conn. J July 4, i8pi.

BUSINESS MAN IN POLITICS.

"Interest in public affairs, national, state and city, should be ever
present and active, and not abated from one year's end to the other.
No American citizen is too great and none too humble to be exempt
from any civic duty however subordinate. Every public duty is honor-
able.

"This menace often comes from the busy man or man of business
and sometimes from those possessing the most leisure or learning. I
have known men engaged in great commercial enterprises to leave
home on the eve of an election, and then complain of the result, when
their presence and the good influence they might properly have exerted
would have secured a different and better result. They run away from
one of the most sacred obligations in a government like ours, and con-
fide to those with less interest involved and less responsibility to the
community, the duty which should be shared by them. What we need
is a revival of the true spirit of popular government, the true American
spirit where all — not the few — participate actively in government. We
need a new baptism of patriotism, and, suppressing for the time our sev-
eral religious views upon the subject, I think we will all agree that the
baptism should be by immersion. There can not be too much patriot-
ism. It banishes distrust and treason, and anarchy flees before it. It
is a sentiment which enriches our individual and national life. It is the
firmament of our power, the security of the Republic, the bulwark of
our liberties. It makes better citizens, better cities, a better country,
and a better civilization.

"The business life of the country is so closely connected with its
political life that the one is much influenced by the other. Good pol-
itics is good business. Mere partisanship no longer controls the cit-
izen and country. Men who think alike, although heretofore acting jeal-
ously apart, are now acting together, and no longer permit former party
associations to keep them from co-operating for the public good. They
are more and more growing into the habit of doing in politics what they
do in business.

274 ^^^^ ^^ William McKinley

"The general situation of the country demands of the business men,
as well as the masses of the people, the most serious consideration. We
must have less partisanship of a certain kind, more business, and a better
national spirit. We need an aggressive partisanship for country. There
are some things upon which we are all agreed. We mi;st have enough
money to run the government. We must not have our credit tarnished
and our reserve depleted because of pride of opinion, or to carry out
some economic theory unsuited to our conditions, citizenship, and civ-
ilization. The outflow of gold will not disturb- us if the inflow of gold
is large enough. The outgo is not serious if the income exceeds it.
False theories should not be permitted to stand in the way of cold facts.
The resources which have been developed and tlie wealth which has
been accumulated, in the last third of a century in the United States,
must not be impaired or diminished or wasted by the application of
theories of the dreamer or doctrinaire. Business experience is the best
lamp to guide us in the pathway of progress and prosperity." — Chamber
of Commerce, Rochester, N. Y., Feb. ij, 18^5.

ADDRESS AT THE TRANS-MISSISSIPPI EXPOSITION AT OMAHA, NEBRASKA,

OCTOBER 12, 1898.

"Mr. President, Gentlemen of the Trans-Mississippi Exposition, and
Felloiv Citizens: — It is with genuine pleasure that I meet once more
the people of Omaha, whose wealth of welcome is not altogether un-
familiar to me, and whose warm hearts have before touched and moved
me. For this renewed manifestation of your regard, and for the cordial
reception of to-day, my heart responds with profound gratitude and a
deep appreciation which I cannot conceal, and which the language of
compliment is inadequate to convey. My greeting is not alone to your
city and state of Nebraska, but to the people of all the states of the
Trans-Mississippi group participating here, and I cannot withhold con-
gratulations on the evidences of their prosperity furnished by this
great exposition. If testimony Vv^ere needed to establish the fact that
their pluck has not deserted them, and that prosperity is again with
them, it is found here. This picture dispels all doubt. [Applause.]

"In an age of expositions they have added yet another magnificent
example, [Applause.] The historical celebrations at Philadelphia and
Chicago, and the splendid exhibits at New Orleans, Atlanta and Nash-
ville, are now part of the past, and yet in influence they still live, and
their beneficent results are closely interwoven with our national devel- jMk
opment. Similar rewards will honor the authors and patrons of the ^
Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition. Their contribution will
mark another epoch in the nation's material advancement.

Our Martyred President 275

'One of the great laws of life is progress, and nowhere have the
principles of this law been so strikingly illustrated as in the United
States. A century and a decade of our national life have turned doubt
into conviction, changed experiment into demonstration, revolutionized
old methods, and won new triumphs which have challenged the atten-
tion of the world. This is true not only of the accumulation of mate-
rial wealth, and advance in education, science, invention and manu-
factures, but, above all, in the opportunities to the people for their own
elevation, which have been secured by wise free government.

"Hitherto, in peace and in war, with additions to our territory and
slight changes in our laws, we have steadily enforced the spirit of the
constitution secured to us by the noble self-sacrifice and far-seeing
sagacity of our ancestors. We have avoided the temptations of con-
quest in the spirit of gain. With an increasing love for our institu-
tions and an abiding faith in their stability, we have made the triumphs
of our system of government in the progress and the prosperity of our
people an inspiration to the whole human race. [Applause.] Con-
fronted at this moment by new and gi"a\-e problems, we must recognize
that their solution will affect not ourselves alone, but others of the fam-
ily of nations.

"In this age of frequent interchange and mutual dependence, we
cannot shirk our international responsibilities if we would; they must
be met with courage and wisdom, and we must follow duty even if
desire opposes. [Applause.] No deliberation can be too mature, or
self-control too constant, in this solemn hour of our history. We must
avoid the temptation of aggression, and aim to secure only such results
as will promote our own and the general good.

'T-t has been said by some one that the normal condition of nations
is war. That is not true of the United States. We never enter upon
a war until every effort for peace without it has been exhausted. Ours
has never been a military government. Peace, with whose blessings
we have been so singularly favored, is the national desire and the goal
of every American aspiration. [Applause.]

"On the 25th of April, for the first time for more than a genera-
tion, the United States sounded the call to arms. The banners of war
were unfurled ; the best and bravest from every section responded ; a
mighty army was enrolled ; the North and the South vied with each other
in patriotic devotion [great applause] ; science was invoked to furnish
its most effective weapons ; factories were rushed to supply equipment ;
the youth and the veteran joined in freely offering their services to
Iheir country; volunteers and regulars and all the people rallied to the
support of the republic. There was no break in the line, no halt in

276 Life of William McKinley

the march, no fear in the heart [great applause] ; no resistance to the
patriotic impulse at home; no successful resistance to the patriotic spirit
of the troops fighting in distant water or on a foreign shore. [Continued
applause. ]

"What a wonderful experience it has been from the standpoint of
patriotism and achievement! The storm broke so suddenly that it was
here almost before we realized it. Our navy was too small, though
forceful with its modern equipment, and most fortunate in its trained
officers and sailors.

Our army had years ago been reduced to a peace footing. We had
only 28,000 available troops when the war was declared, but the account
which officers and men gave of themselves on the battlefield has never
been surpassed. The manhood was there and everywhere. American
patriotism was there, and its resources were limitless. The courageous
and invincible spirit of the people proved glorious, and those who a
little more than a third of a century ago were divided and at war with
each other were again united under the holy standard of liberty.
[Great applause.] Patriotism banished party feeling; $50,000,000 for
the national defense were appropriated without debate or division, as a
matter of course and as only a mere indication of our mighty reserve
power. [Great applause.]

"But if this is true of the beginning of the war, what shall we say
of it now, with hostilities suspended, and peace near at hand, as we
fervently hope? Matchless in its results! [Great applause] Un-
equaled in its completeness and the quick succession with which vic-
tory followed victory! Attained earlier than it was believed to be pos-
sible; so comprehensive in its sweep that every thoughtful man feels
the weight of responsibility which has been so suddenly thrust upon
us. And above all and beyond all, the valor of the American army
and the bravery of the American navy and the majesty of the Amer-
ican name stand forth in unsullied glory, while the humanity of our
purposes and the magnanimity of our coilduct have given to war, al-
ways horrible, touches of noble generosity, Christian sympathy and
charity, and examples of human grandeur which can never be lost to
mankind. [Prolonged applause.] Passion and bitterness formed no
part of our impelling motive, and it is gratifying to feel that humanity
triumphed at every step of the war's progress. [Applause.]

"The heroes of Manila and Santiago and Porto Rico have made
immortal history. They are worthy successors and descendants of
Washington and Greene; of Paul Jones, Decatur and Hull, and of
Grant, Sheridan, Sherman and Logan; of Farragut, Porter and Gush-
ing, of Lee, Jackson and Longstreet. [Tremendous applause.]

Our Martyred President 277

"New names stand out on the honor roll of the nation's great men
[applause], and with them, unnamed, stand the heroes of the trenches
and the forecastle, invincible in battle and uncomplaining in death.
[Great applause.] The intelligent, loyal, indomitable soldier and sailor
and marine, regular and volunteer, are entitled to ecjual praise as hav-
ing done their whole duty, whether at home or under the baptism of
foreign fire. [Applause.]

"Who will dim the splendor of their achievements? Who will
withhold from them their well-earned distinction? Who will intrude
detraction at this time to belittle the manly spirit of the American
youth and impair the usefulness of the American army? Who will em-
barrass the government by sowing seeds of dissatisfaction among the
brave men who stand ready to serve and die, if need be, for their coun-
try? Who will darken the counsels of the republic in this hour, re-
quiring the united wisdom of all ? [Cheers and prolonged applause.]

"Shall we deny to ourselves what the rest of the world so freely
and so justly accords to us? [General cry of 'No!'] The men who
endured in the short but decisive struggle its hardships, its privations,
whether in field or camp, on ship or in the siege, and planned and
achieved its victories, will never tolerate impeachment, either direct or
indirect, of those who won a peace whose great gain to civilization is
yet unknown and unwritten. [Tremendous applause.]

"The faith of a Christian nation recognizes the hand of Almighty God
in the ordeal through which we have passed. Divine favor seemed mani-
fest everywhere. In fighting for humanity's sake we have been signally
blessed. We did not seek war. To avoid it, if this could be done in
honor and justice to the rights of our neighbors and ourselves, was
our constant prayer. The war was no more invited by us than were
the questions which are laid at our door by its results. [Great ap-
plause.] Now as then we will do our duty. [Continued applause.]
The problems will not be solved in a day. Patience will be required
— patience combined with sincerity of purpose and unshaken resolu-
tion to do right, seeking only the highest good of the nation, and recog-
nizing no other obligation, pursuing no other path, but that of duty.

"Right action follows right purpose. We may not at all times be
able to divine the future, the Avay may not always seem clear; but if
our aims are high and unselfish, somehow and in some way the right
end will be reached. The genius of the nation, its freedom, its wis-
dom, its humanity, its courage, its. justice, favored by divine Providence,
will make it equal to every task and the master of every emergency."
[Long continued applause.]

278 Life of .William McKinley

SPEECH IN THE COLISEUM, ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, OCTOBER I4, 1898.

"My Fcllozu Citizens: — My former visits to St. Louis are full of
pleasant memories. My present one I shall never forget. It has warmed
my heart and given me encouragement for greater effort to admin-
ister the trust which I hold for my country. My first visit was in 18S8/
and then again in 1892, both of which afforded me an opportunity of
becoming acquainted with your people, and of observing the substan-
tial character of your enterprising city. I omitted my quadrennial
visit in 1896 for reasons which were obvious to you, and have always
been thankful that my absence seemed to have created no prejudice in
your minds. [Laughter and applause.]

"I remember, on the occasion of a former visit, in company with
Governor Francis and other citizens, to have witnessed the assembled
pupils of the schools of the city at your great fair. It was an inspiring-
sight, and it has never been effaced from my recollection. As I looked
into the thousands of young faces of the boys and the girls, preparing
themselves for citizenship, I had my faith confirmed in the stability of
our institutions. [Applause.] I saw them to-day as I drove about
your city with the flag in their hands, and heard their voices ringing
with the song we love —

" 'My country, 'tis of thee,
Sweet land of liberty.'
To the youth of the country trained in the schools, which happily are
opened to all, must we look to carry forward the fabric of govern-
ment. It is fortunate for us that our republic appeals to the best and
noblest aspirations of its citizens, and makes all things possible to the
w^orthy and industrious youth.

"The personal interest and participation of our citizenship in the
conduct of the government make its condition always absorbing and
interesting.

"It must be a matter of great gratification to the people of the
United States to know that the national credit was never better than
now, while the national name was never dearer to us, and never more
respected by others the world over. For the first time in the country's
history the government has sold a 3 per cent bond, every dollar of
which was taken at par. This bond is now at a premium of 5 cents
on the dollar; and the profit has gone to the people. [Applause.]
The loan was a popular one, and it has been a source of much satisfac-
tion that the people, with their surplus savings, were able to buy the
bonds. It is an interesting fact that while we offered two hundred mil-
lions of bonds for sale, over fourteen hundred millions were subscribed

Our Martyred President 279

by the people of the country, and by the terms of sale no one was able to
receive bonds in excess of $5,000. [Applause.]

"It is not without significance, too, that the government has not
been required, since 1896, to borrow any money for its current obliga-
tions until the war with Spain, while its available balance, October
I, 1898, was upward of three hundred and seven million, of which sum
over two hundred and forty-three millions were in gold. Nothing
more impressed the nations of the world than the appropriation of a
large national defense fund which the treasury was able to pay from
its balance, without resort to a loan. While the credit and finance of
the government have improved, the business conditions of the people
have also happily improved. We are more cheerful, more happy, more
contented. Both government and citizens have shared in the general
prosperity. The circulation of the country on the ist of July, 1898,
was larger than it had ever been before in our history. It is not so
large to-day as then, but the reason for it is that the people put a part
of that circulation in the treasury to meet the government bonds which
they hold in their hands.

"The people have borne the additional taxation made necessary
by the war with the same degree of patriotism that characterized the
soldiers who enlisted to fight the country's battles. [Applause.] We
have not only prospered in every material sense, but we have estab-
lished a sentiment of good feeling and a spirit of brotherhood such as
the nation has not enjoyed since the earlier years of its history. My
countrymen, not since the beginning of the agitation of the cjuestion
of slavery has there been such a common bond in name and purpose,
such genuine affection, such a unity of the sections, such obligation of"
party and geographical divisions. National pride has been again en-
throned ; national patriotism has been restored ; the national Union
cemented closer and stronger; the love for the old flag enshrined in all
hearts. North and South have mingled their best blood in a common
cause, and to-day rejoice in a common victory. [Great applause.]
Happily for the nation to-day, they follow the same glorious banner,
together fighting and dying under its sacred folds for American honor
and for the humanity of the race, [Loud and prolonged applause.] i

"We must guard this restored Union with zealous and sacred care,
and, while awaiting the settlements of the war and meeting the prob-
lems which will follow% we must stand as Americans, not in the spirit
of party, and unite in a common effort for that which will give to the
nation its widest influence in the sphere of activity and usefulness to I
which the war has assigned it. My fellow citizens, let nothing dis-
tract us ; let no discordant voice intrude to embarrass us in the solution
of the mighty problems which involve such vast consequences to our-

28o Life of William McKinley

selves and posterity. Let us remember that God bestows supreme oppor-
tunity upon no nation which is not ready to respond to the caU of supreme
duty. [Prolonged applause.]

SPEECH AT FIRST REGIMENT ARMORY^ CHICAGO^ BEFORE THE ALLIED
ORGANIZATIONS OF RAILROAD EMPLOYEES, OCTOBER 20, 1898.

"Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen: — I count myself fortunate
to have the privilege of meeting with the allied railroad organizations
assembled in this great metropolis. I have had in the last ten days
very many most interesting and pleasant experiences, as I have jour-
neyed through the country; but I assure you that none of them ^las
given me greater pleasure than to meet the men and the women con-
nected with the operation of the great railroads of the country. It
is fortunate, too, that this body of representative men and women
should have assembled in this city at a time when the people are cel-
ebrating the suspension of hostilities, and their desire for an honor-
able and just and triumphant peace. The railroad men of the coun-
try have always been for the country; the railroad men of the country
have always been for the flag of the country; and in every crisis
of our national history, in war or in peace, the men from your great
organizations have been loyal and faithful to every duty and obliga-
tion. [Applause.]

"Yours is at once a profession of great risk and of great responsi-
bility. I know of no occupation in the held of human endeavor that
carries with it graver obligations and higher responsibilities than that
of the men who sit about me to-day. You transport the commerce
of the country; you carry its rich treasures from the Atlantic to the
Pacific ; and you carry daily and hourly the freightage of humanity
that trust you, trust your integrity, your intelligence, your fidelity,
for the safety of their lives and of their loved ones. And I congratu-
late the country that in this system, so interwoven with the everyday
life of the citizen and the republic, we have men of such splendid char-
acter and ability and intelligence.

•'I bring to you to-day not only my good will, but the gpod will
and respect of seventy-five millions of American citizens. Your work
is ever before a critical public. You go in and out every day before
your countrymen, and you have earned from them deserved and un-
stinted praise for your fidelity to the great interests of the people whom
you serve and of the roads which you operate.

"The virtue of the people lies at the foundation of the republic. The
power of the republic is in the American fireside. The virtue that
comes out from the holy altar of home is the most priceless gift this

Our Martyred President 281

•

nation has; and when the judgments of the people are spoken through
the homes of the people, they command the congress and the executive,
and at last crystallize into public law.

"I thank you, my fellow citizens, for your cordial greeting, and I
congratulate you upon the evidences of returning prosperity every-
where to be seen. The figures read by your chairman represent the
growth of the great railroad system of the country. What you want,
what we all want, is business prosperity. When you have that you have
something to do. When you have it not you are idle.

''There are few 'empties' now on the side tracks, and so there are
few railroad men unemployed. The more you use the freight car the
oftener you see the pay car. [Applause.]

"I am glad to observe the First Illinois here with you to-day. That
gallant regiment, made up of the volunteers from the homes of Chi-
cago, took their lives into their hands and went to Santiago to fight
the battles of liberty for an oppressed people. I am glad to have this
opportunity to greet them, to congratulate and to thank them in the
name of the American people. [Great applause.]

"And now, having said this much, I bid you know that I will carry
from this place, from this audience, from these warm-hearted men and
women, one of the pleasantest memories of my long trip through the
West." [Loud and prolonged cheering.]

SPEECH AT THE AUDITORIUM^ ATLANTA^ GEORGIA, DECEMBER 1 5, 1898.

"Governor Candler, President Hemphill, Ladies and Gentlemen: —
I cannot withhold from this people my profound thanks for their hearty
reception and the good will which they have shown me everywhere
and in every way since I have been their guest. I thank them for the
opportunity which this occasion gives me of meeting them, and for
the pleasure it affords me to participate with them in honoring the
army and the navy, to whose achievements we are indebted for one
of the most brilliant chapters of American histor}^

"Other parts of the country have had their public thanksgivings
and jubilees in honor of the historic events of- the past year, but no-
where has there been greater rejoicing than among the people here,
the gathered representatives of the South. I congratulate them upon
their accurate observation of events, which enabled them to fix a date
'which insured them the privilege of being the first to celebrate the
signing of the treaty of peace by the American and Spanish commis-
sioners. Under hostile fire on a foreign soil, fighting in a common
caXise, the memory of old disagreements has faded into history. From

282 Life of William McKInley

•

camp and campaign there comes the magic heahng which has closed
ancient wounds and effaced their scars. For this result every Amer-
ican patriot will forever rejoice. It is no small indemnity for the cost
of the war.

"This government has proved itself invincihle in the recent war,
and out of it has come a nation which will remain indivisible forever-
more. [Applause.] No worthier contributions have been made in
patriotism and in men than by the people of these Southern states.
When at last the opportunity came they were eager to meet it, and with
promptness responded to the call of country. Intrusted with the able
leadership of men dear to them, who had marched with their fathers
under another flag, now fighting under the old flag again, they have
gloriously helped to defend its spotless folds, and added new luster
to its shining stars. That flag has been planted in two hemispheres,
and] there it remains the symbol of liberty and law, of peace and prog-
ress. [Great applause.] Who will withdraw from the people over
whom it floats its protecting folds? Who will haul it down? Answer
me, ye men of the South, who is there in Dixie who will haul it down?
[Tremendous applause.]

'The victory we celebrate is not that of a ruler, a president, or a
congress, but of the people. [Applause.] The army whose valor we
admire, and the navy whose achievements we applaud, were not as-
sembled by draft or conscription, but from voluntary enlistment. Thcf
heroes came from civil as well as military life. Trained and untrained
soldiers wrought our triumphs.

"The peace we have won is not a selfish truce of arms, but one
whose conditions presage good to humanity. The domains secured
und^er the treaty yet to be acted upon by the senate came to us not as
the result of a crusade or conquest, but as the reward of temperate,
faithful, and fearless response to the call of conscience, wdiich could not
be disregarded by a liberty-loving and Christian people.

"We have so borne ourselves in the conflict and in our intercourse
with the powers of the world as to escape complaint or complication,
and give universal confidence in our high purpose and unselfish sac-
rifices for struggling peoples. The task is not fulfilled. Indeed, it is
only just begun. The most serious work is still before us, and every
energy of heart and mind must be bent, and the impulses of partisan-
ship subordinated, to its faithful execution. This is the time for earnest,
not faint, hearts.

" 'New occasions teach new duties.' To this nation and to every
nation there come formative periods in its life and history. New con-
ditions can be met only by new methods. Meeting these conditions

Our Martyred President 283

hopefully, and facing them bravely and wisely, is to be the mightiest
test of American virtue and capacity. Without abandoning past lim-
itations, traditions and principles, by meeting present opportunities and
obligations, we shall show ourselves worthy of the great trusts which
civilization has imposed upon us. [Great applause.]

"At Bunker Hill liberty was at stake; at Gettysburg the Union
was the issue; before Manila and Santiago our armies fought, not
for gain or revenge, but for human rights. They contended for the
freedom of the oppressed, for whose welfare the United States has
never failed to lend a helping hand to establish and uphold, and, I
believe, never will. The glories of the war cannot be dimmed, but
the result will be incomplete and unworthy of us unless supplemented
by civil victories, harder possibly to win, but in their way no less in-
dispensable. [Great applause.]

"We will have our difficulties and our embarrassments. They fol-
low all victories and accompany all great responsibilities. They are
inseparable from every great movement or reform. But American
capacity has triumphed over all in the past. [Applause.] Doubts
have in the end vanished. Apparent dangers have been averted or
avoided, and our own history shows that progress has come so natu-
rally and steadily on the heels of new and grave responsibilities that
as we look back upon the acquisitions of territory by our fathers, we
are filled with wonder that any doubt could have existed or any appre-
hension could have been felt of the wisdom of their action or their
capacity to grapple with the then untried and mighty problems. [Great
applause.]

"The republic is to-day larger, stronger and better prepared than
ever before for wise and profitable- development in new directions and
along new lines. Even if the minds of some of our own people are
still disturbed by perplexing and anxious doubts, in which all of us
have shared and still share, the genius of American civilization will,
I believe, be found both original and creative, and capable of subserv-
ing all the great interests which shall be confided to our keeping. [Ap-
plause.]

"Forever in the right, following the best impulses and clinging to
high purposes, using properly and within right limits our power and
opportunities, honorable reward must inevitably follow. The outcome
cannot be in doubt. We could have avoided all the difficulties that lie
across the pathway of the nation if a few months ago we had coldly
ignored the piteous appeals of the starving and oppressed inhabitants
of Cuba. If we had blinded ourselves to the conditions so near our
shores, and turned a deaf ear to our suffering neighbors, the issue of

284 Life of William McKinley

territorial expansion in the Antilles and the East Indies would not have
been raised.

"But could we have justified such a course? [General cry of 'No!']
Is there any one who would now declare another to have been the bet-
ter course [Cries of 'No!'] With less humanity and less courage on
our part, the Spanish flag, instead of the Stars and Stripes, would still
be floating at Cavite, at Ponce, and at Santiago, and a 'chance in the
race of life' would be wanting to millions of human beings who to-day
call this nation noble, and who, I trust, will live to call it blessed.

"Thus far we have done our supreme duty. Shall v/e now, when
the victory won in war is written in the treaty of peace, and the civilized
world applauds and waits in expectation, turn timidly away from the
duties imposed upon the country by its own great deeds? And when
the mists fade away and we see with clear vision, may we not go
forth rejoicing in a strength which has been employed solely for hu-
manity and always tempered with justice and mercy, confident of our
ability to meet the exigencies which await us, because confident that our
course is one of duty and our cause that of right ? [Prolonged applause.]

m'kINLEY on AMERICAN WOMANHOOD.

In 1896 more than 600 women of Northern Ohio made an excursion
to Canton to congratulate McKinley on his nomination for the Presi-
dency. In response to their addresses of greeting Mr. McKinley gave
utterance to the following words as showing his estimate of the place of
woman in American life:

"There is no limitation to the influence that may be exerted by
woman in the United States and no adequate tribute can be spoken of
her services to mankind throughout its eventful history. In the distant
period of its settlement, in the day of the revolution, in the trials of
western pioneer life, during the more recent but dread days of our civil
war and, indeed, in every step of our progress as a nation, the devotion
and sacrifices of woman were constantly apparent and often conspicuous.
She was everywhere appreciated and recognized, though God, alone
could place her service at its true value. The work of woman has been
a power in every emergency and always for good. In calamity and
distress she has been helpful and heroic. Not only have some of the
brightest pages of our national history been illuminated by her splendid
example and noble efforts for the public good, but her influence in the
home, the church, the school and the community in moulding character
for every profession and duty to which our race is called, has been
potential and sublime. It is in the quiet and peaceful walks of life that
her power is greatest and most beneficial. One of the tenderest passages

Our Martyred President 285

to me in the works of John Stuart Mill beautifully expresses this
thought. It is recorded in his autobiography when he paused to pay
high and deserved tribute to his wife, of whom he could not speak too
much. He says : 'She was not only the author of many of the best
things I did, but she inspired every good thing I did.'

"One of the best things of our civilization in America is the con-
stant advancement of woman to a higher plane of labor and respon-
sibility. The opportunities for her are greater now than ever before.
This is singularly true here, where practically every avenue of human
endeavor is open to her. Her impress is felt in art, science, literature,
song and in government. Our churches, our schools, our charities, our
professions and our general business interests are more than ever each
year directed by her. Respect for womankind has become with us a
national characteristic; and what a high and manly trait it is — none
nobler or holier. It stamps the true gentleman. The man who loves
wife and mother and home will respect and reverence all womankind.
He is always the better citizen for such gentle breeding.

"The home over which the trusted wife presides is the citadel of
our strength, the best guaranty of good citizenship and sound morals
in government. It is at the foundation — upon it all else is constructed.
From the plain American home where virtue dwells and truth abides,
go forth the men and women wdio make the great states and cities which
adorn our republic, which maintain law and order, that citizenship which
aims at the public welfare, the common good of all."

Mckinley's estimate of the constitution of the united states.

McKinley was the orator at the celebration in the Auditorium of
Washington's birthday, held under the auspices of the Union League
Club in 1894. He traced the life of Washington until he reached the
period of the drafting of the constitution and its adoption. And this
is how the Ohio man described it and told his opinion of it :

"It has been strong enough for every emergency ; it has been broad
enough for every want; it has answered for the most part every new
condition; it has survived every crisis in our national life. It provides
for such frequent elections that if popular error gains the ascendency
the sober second thought of the citizens can, in part at least, correct the
mistake through the great representatives body of the national congress ;
it insures frequent appeals to the popular will as an easy and safe remedy
for existing wrongs and invests the people with perpetual power to
change policies, laws and administrations whenever they find them men-

286 Life of William McKinley

acing to the liberties or welfare of the country. It commands more
general and cheerful obedience, and it is much more venerated today
than ever before. But strong as the constitution is, the greatest safely
to the republic is in the love and loyalty which the people bear it, the
unwavering affection which is ever ready to kindle the flame of patriot-
ism on our country's altar. May our love never abate and our loyalty
never weaken ! When patriotism falters, respect for charters and laws
is at an end. The downfall of the nation begins when hope and faith
in our institiutions are gone."

m'kINLEY's last public address at the PAN-AMERICAN EXPOSITION,.

BUFFALO, SEPTEMBER 5, I9OI.

Viewed in the light of the tragic developments which followed it,
the speech which President McKinley delivered upon the occasion of his
last public appearance, at the Buffalo exposition, takes on a singular
impressiveness. To his countrymen at large, this definition of the na-
tion's aspirations and its future mission among nations stands almost as
the statement of William McKinley's legacy to his country. The speech
is both a summary of the nation's recent achievements and a forecast
of the duties and triumphs which are to come. In the years of expanding
influence which are before the United States it is not unlikely that the
leaders in the political life of the nation will find in this utterance the
touch-stone by which to try issues of international policy.

It is significant of Mr. McKinley's breadth of view at the climax of
his career that upon the most important items of his program hot!)
democrat and republican, northerner and southerner, will be in accord.
Trade expansion, with the increase of beneficent power and influence
which attends it, he defined as the dominant principle of American poli-
tics in the immediate future; but his advocacy of this policy stands as
something more than an argument for an expansion of material inter-
ests. It can never be forgotten by the republican party that the strongest
and most impressive plea for freer trade relations and the increased
activity of the United States in the exchanges of the world was made by
the man who had most earnestly worked for a policy of exclusive home
development, so long as he believed that policy to be necessary. And it
is impossible that any one who followed the thread of the president's
Buffalo speech should fail to see that in boldly outlining this new policy
he was animated not less by a patriotic desire for the nation's welfare than
by a confident belief in the great role which it is destined to play in
making for the progress and enlightenment of the world.

Those who are to take up the work which he has laid down could

Our Martyred President ^,87

scarcely have a higher conception of the mission which the nation is to
fulfill than is embodied in this final expression of the dead President.

The address is as follows :

''President Milhurn, Director-General Buchanan, Commissioners,
Ladies and Gentlemen — I am glad to be again in the city of Buffalo and
exchange greetings with her people, to whose generous hospitality I am
not a stranger, and with whose good will I have been repeatedly and sig-
nally honored.

"To-day I have additional satisfaction in meeting and giving wel-
come to the foreign representatives assembled here, whose presence and
participation in this exposition have contributed in so marked a degree
to its interests and success. To the commissioners of the Dominion of
Canada and the British colonies, the French colonies, the republics of
Mexico and of Central and South America, and the commissioners of
, Cuba and Porto Rico, who share with us in this undertaking, we give the
hand of fellowship and felicitate with them upon the triumphs of art,
science, education and manufacture which the old has bequeathed to the
new century.

"Expositions are the timekeepers of progress. They record the
world's advancement. They stimulate the energy, enterprise and intel-
lect of the people and quicken human genius. They go into the home.
They broaden and brighten the daily life of the people. They open
mighty storehouses of information to the student.

BENEFIT IN EXPOSITIONS.

"Every exposition, great or small, has helped to some onward step.
Comparison of ideas is always educational, and as such instructs the brain
and hand of man. Friendly rivalry follows, which is the spur to indus-
trial improvement, the inspiration to useful invention and to high en-
deavor in all departments of human activity. It exacts a study of the
wants, comforts and even the whims of the people and recognizes the
efficacy of high quality and low prices to win their favor.

"The quest for trade Is an incentive to men of business to devise,
invent, improve and economize in the cost of production. Business life,
whether among ourselves or with other people, is ever a sharp struggle
for success. It will be none the less so in the future. Without compe-
tition we would be clinging to tlie clumsy and antiquated processes of
farming and manufacture and the methods of business of long ago, and
tlie twentieth would be no further advanced than the eighteenth century.
But though commercial competitors we are, commercial enemies we
must not be.

288 Life of William McKinley

INVITES FRIENDLY RIVALRY.

"The Pan-American exposition has clone its work thoroughly, pre-
senting in its exhibits evidences of the highest skill and illustrating the
progress of the human family in the western hemisphere. This por-
tion of the earth has no cause for humiliation for the part it has per-
formed in the march of civilization. It has not accomplished every-
thing; far from it. It has simply done its best, and without vanity or
boastfulness and recognizing the manifold achievements of others, it
invites the friendly rivalry of all the powers in the peaceful pursuits of
trade and commerce, and will co-operate with all in advancing the
highest and best interests of humanity.

"The wisdom and energy of all the nations are none too great for
the world. Modern inventions have brought into close relation widely
separated peoples, and made them better acquainted. Geographical and
political divisions will continue to exist, but distances have been effaced.

ANNIHILATION OF SPACE.

"Swift ships and fast trains are becoming cosmopolitan. They
invade fields which a few years ago were impenetrable. The world's
products are exchanged as never before, and with increasing trans-
portation facilities come increasing knowledge and trade. Prices are
fixed with mathematical precision by supply and demand. The world's
selling prices are regulated by market and crop reports. We travel
greater distances in a shorter space of time and with more ease than
was ever dreamed of by the fathers,

"Isolation is no longer possible or desirable. The same important
news is read, though in different languages, the same day in all Chris-
tendom. The telegraph keeps us advised of what is occurring every-
where, and the press foreshadows, with more or less accuracy, the
plans and purposes of the nations. Market prices of products and of
securities are hourly known in every commercial mart, and the in-
vestments of the people extend beyond their own national boundaries
into the remotest parts of the earth. Vast transactions are conducted
and international exchanges are made by the tick of the cable. Every
event of interest is immediately bulletined.

COMPARISON IS DRAWN.

"The quick gathering and transmission of news, like rapid transit,
are of recent origin, and are only made possible by the genius of
the inventor and the courage of the investor. It took a special mes-
senger of the government, with every facility known at the time for
rapid travel, nineteen days to go from the city of Washington to New

THE LAST FAREWELL

Our Martyred President 289

Orleans with a message to General Jackson that the war with England
had ceased and a treaty of peace had heen signed.

"How different now! We reach General Miles in Porto Rico by
cable, and he was able through the military telegraph to stop his army
on the firing line with the message that the United States and Spain
had signed a protocol suspending hostilities. We knew almost in-
stantly of the first shots fired at Santiago, and the subsequent sur-
render of the Spanish forces was know'n at Washington within less
than an hour of its consummation. The first ship of Cervera's fleet
had hardly emerged from that historic harbor wdien the fact was
flashed to our capital and the swift destruction that followed was an-
nounced immediately through the W'Onderful medium of telegraphy.

DARK DAYS AT PEKING.

"So accustomed are we to safe and easy communication with dis-
tant lands that its temporary interruption, even in ordinary times, re-
sults in loss and inconvenience. We shall never forget the days of
anxious waiting and awful suspense when no information was per-
mitted to be sent from Peking, and the diplomatic representatives
of the nations in China, cut off from all communication inside and
outside of the walled capital, were surrounded by an angry and mis-
guided mob that threatened their lives; nor the joy that thrilled the
world when a single message from the government of the United
States brought through our minister the first news of the safety of
the besieged diplomats.

"At the beginning of the nineteenth century there was not a mile
of steam railroad on the globe. Now, there are enough miles to make
its circuit many times. The-n there was not a line of electric tele-
graph ; now we have vast mileage traversing all lands and all seas.

"God and man have linked the nations together. No nation can
longer be indifferent to any other. x\nd as w'e are brought more
and more in touch with each other, the less occasion is there for mis-
understandings and the stronger the disposition, when we have differ-
ences, to adjust them in the court of arbitration, which is the noblest
forum for the settlement of international disputes.

PROSPERITY OF THE NATION

"My fellow citizens, trade statistics indicate that this country is in
a state of unexampled prosperity. The figures are almost appalling.
They show that we are utilizing our fields and forest and mines and
that we are furnishing profitable employment to the millions of working-
men throughout the United States, bringing comfort and happiness to

290 Life of William McKinley

their homes and making it possible to lay by their savings for old age
and disabihty.

"That all the people are participating in this great prosperity is
seen in every American community and shown by the enormous and
unprecedented deposits in our savings banks. Our duty is the care
and security of these deposits, and their safe investment demands the
highest integrity and the best business capacity of those in charge of
those depositories of the people's earnings.

"We have a vast and intricate business, built up through years of
toil and struggle, in which every part of the country has its stake, which
will not permit of either neglect or of undue selfishness. No narrow,
sordid policy will subserve it. The greatest skill and wisdom on the
part of the manufacturers and producers will be. required to hold and
increase it. Our industrial enterprises, which have grown to svich pro-
portions, affect the homes and occupations of the people and the welfare
of the country. Our capacity to produce has developed so enormously
and our products have so multiplied that the problem of more markets
requires our urgent and immediate attention.

FOR ENLIGHTENED POLICY.

"Only a broad and enlightened policy will keep what we have. No
other policy will get more. In these times of marvelous business
energy and gain we ought to be looking to the future, strengthening
the weak places in our industrial and commercial systems, so that we
may be ready for any storm or strain.

"By sensible trade arrangement which will not interrupt our home
production we shall extend the outlets for our increasing surplus. A
system which provides a mutual exchange of commodities is m.anifestly
essential to the continued healthful growth of our export trade. We
must not repose in fanciful security that we can forever sell everything
and buy little or nothing. If such a thing were possible, it would not
be best for us or for those with whom we deal. We should take from
our customers such of their products as w^e can use without harm to
our industries and labor.

"Reciprocity is the natural outgrowth of our wonderful industrial
development under the domestic policy now firmly established. What
we produce beyond our domestic consumption must have a vent abroad.
The excess must be relieved through a foreign outlet, and we should
sell everywhere we can and buy wherever the buying will enlarge our
sales and productions, and thereby make a greater demand for home
labor.

Our Martyred President 291

EXPANSION AND RECIPROCITY.

"The period of exclusiveness is past. The expansion of our trade
and commerce is the pressing problem. Commercial wars are unproht-
able. A policy of good will and friendly trade relations will prevent
reprisals. Reciprocity treaties are in harmony with the spirit of the
times; measures of retaliation are not. If, perchance, some of our tariffs
are no longer needed for revenue or to encourage and protect our in-
dustries at home, wh}^ should they not be employed to extend and pro-
mote our markets abroad?

"Then, too, we have inadecjuate steamship service. New lines of
steamers have already been put in commission between the Pacific coast
ports of the United States and those on the western coasts of Mexico
and Central and South America. These should be followed up with
direct steamship lines between the eastern coasts of the United States
and South American ports. One of the needs of the times is direct
commercial lines from our vast fields of production to the fields of con-
sumption that we have but barely touched. Next in advantage to having
the thing to sell is to have the convenience to carry it to the buyer.

"We must encourage our merchant marine. We must have more
ships. They must be under the American flag, built and manned and
owned by Americans. These will not only be profitable in a commercial
sense; they will be messengers of peace and amity wherever they go.

"We must build the isthmian canal, which will unite the two oceans
and give a straight line of water communication with the western coasts
of Central America, South America and Mexico. The construction of
a Pacific cable cannot be longer postponed.

GIVES BLAINE CREDIT.

"In the furtherance of these objects of national interest and concern
you are performing an important part. This exposition would have
touched the heart of the American statesman whose mind was ever alert
and thought ever constant for a larger commerce and a truer fraternity
of the republics of the new world. His broad American spirit is felt and
manifested here. He needs no identification to an assemblage of
Americans anywhere, for the name of Blaine is inseparably associated
with the Pan-American movement, which finds this practical and sub-
stantial expression, and which v/e all hope will be firmly advanced by
the Pan-American congress that assembles this autumn in the capital
of Mexico.

"The good work will go on. It cannot be stopped. These buildings
will disappear, this creation of art and beauty and industry will perish
from sight, but their influence will remain to

292 Life of William McKinley

"Make it live beyond its too short living
With praises and thanksgiving.

"Who can tell the new thoughts that have been awakened, the am-
bitions fired and the high achievements that will be wrought through
this exposition?

"Gentlemen, let us ever remember that our interest is in concord,
not conflict, and that our real eminence rests in the victories of peace,
not those of war. We hope that all who are represented here may be
moved to higher and nobler effort for their own and the v/orld's good,
and that out of this city may come not only greater commerce and trade
for us all, but, more essential than these, relations of mutual respect,
confidence and friendship which will deepen and endure.

"Our earnest prayer is that God will graciously vouchsafe pros-
perity, happiness and peace to all our neighbors and like blessings to all
the people and powers of earth."

ROBERT p. PORTER^ THE V/ELL-KNOWN AMERICAN JOURNALIST AND
CUBAN COMMISSIONER, SAYS OF THIS ADDRESS:

"President McKinley' s Buffalo speech defined the very essence of reci-
procity. We must take from customers some of their products in
exchange for our own, else, unguarded by a strong protective tariff, how
can they pay for our goods ? We have a dozen commercial treaties
negotiated by the McKinley administration awaiting ratification by the
senate. President McKinley strongly urged the confirmation of these
without delay.

"Those who believe in reciprocity as the natural outgrowth of our
wonderful industrial development, as the late President did, will be glad
to learn that President Roosevelt will vigorously push their ratification.
He was never so strong an advocate of protection as the late President,
consequently it will be easier for him to change with the new conditions
facing the republican party, while by no means abandoning the home
markets.

WORDS WERE SIGNIFICANT.

"The republican leaders must realize the significance of President
McKinley's last words. Coming from so loyal a protectionist, they would
have their effect on the majority of the senate.

"President Roosevelt's opinion also should have weight with those
who believe in broader trade relations with the world, and they should
wish him success in converting the senate to the theory of the martyred
President : 'W^e sell everything. We can buy wherever buying will

Our Martyred President 293

arge our sales.' That is true reciprocity. That is the only foreign
ide poHcy for the United States.
"Unless President Roosevelt has materially modified the views he has
Iways expressed he will adhere to these general principles."

GOLDEN SAYINGS OF m'kINLEY.

A noble manhood, nobly consecrated to man, never dies.

God puts no nation in supreme place which will not do supreme duty.

Patriotism is above party and national honor is dearer than any
party name.

The American home lies at the very beginning and foundation of
a pure national life.

God will not long prosper that nation which will not protect and
defend its weakened citizens.

Christian character is the foundation upon which we must build if
our citizenship is to be uplifted and our institutions are to endure.

The men who established this government had faith in God and
sublimely trusted in him. They besought his counsel and advice in every
step of their progress. And so it has been ever since; American history
aliounds in instances of this trait of piety, this sincere reliance on a
liigher power in all our national affairs.

Improvement in every walk of life is the outgrowth of thought and
discussion and ambition. We do better as we are better ourselves.

Self-government politically can be successfully only if it be accom-
panied by self-government personally; there must be government some-
where.

The American home where honesty, sobriety, and truth preside, and
a simple, every-day virtue without pomp and ostentation is practiced,
is the nursery of all true educations.

The want of time is manly men, men of character, culture and
courage, of faith and sincerity; the exalted manhood which forges its
way to the front by the force of its own merits.

It is the duty of each of us, by word and act, in so far as it can be
done, to improve the present condition. But, above all, we must not
d'isparage our government. We must uphold it and uphold it at all
times and in all circumstances.

The tomorrows are too full to be crowded with the yesterdays. We
must move on and forward. We must learn that every day is a new
day, with its own distinctive and commanding duties, and cannot atone
for the yesterdays unimproved.

294 J^ifc of William McKinley

No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the invisible hand
which conducts the affairs of man than the people of the United States.
Every step by which they have advanced to the character of an inde-
pendent nation seems to have been distinguished by some token of provi-
dential agency.

The labor of the country constitutes its strength and its wealth, and
the better that labor is conditioned the higher its rewards, the wider its
opportunities, and the greater its comforts and refinements, the more
sacred will be our homes, the more capable will be our children and the
nobler will be the destiny that awaits us.

The first duty of a nation is to enact those laws which will give to
its citizens the widest opportunity for labor and the best rewards for
work done. You cannot have the best citizenship without these en-
couragements, and with us the best citizenship is recjuired to secure the
best government, the best lav/s and their wise administration.

An open schoolhouse, free to all, evidences the highest type of ad-
vanced civilization. It is the gateway to progress, prosperity and honor
and the best security for the liberties and independence of the people. It
is the strongest rock of the foundation, the most enduring stone of the
temple of liberty — ay, the very citadel of our influence and power. It
is better than garrison and guns, than forts and fleets.

Peace, order and good-will among the people, with patriotism in
their hearts, truth, honor and justice in the executive, judicial and legis-
lative branches of the government, municipal, state and national ; all
yielding respect and obedience to law, all equal before the law and all
alike amenable to law — such are the conditions that will make our gov-
ernment too strong even to be broken by internal dissensions and too
powerful even to be overturned by any enemy from without.

CHAPTER XXIII.

Abraham Lincoln.

Life Described by William McKinley.

Mr. President, Gentleiiieii of the Marquette Club and My Fellow-Citizens :
It requires the most gracious pages in the world's history to record
what one American achieved. The story of this simple Hfe is the story of
a plain, honest, manly citizen, true patriot, and profound statesman, who,
believing with all the strength of his mighty soul in the institutions of
his country, won because of them the highest place in its government —
then fell a precious sacrifice to the union he held so dear, which Provi-
dence had spared his life long enough to save.

We meet tonight to do honor to this immortal hero, Abraham Lincoln,
whose achievements have heightened human aspirations and broadened
the field of opportunity to the races of men. While the party with which
we stand, and for which he stood, can justly claim him, and without
dispute can boast the distinction of being the first to honor and trust him,
his fame has leaped the bounds of party and country, and now belongs
to mankind and the ages.

What were the traits of character which made Abraham Lincoln
prophet and master, without a rival, in the greatest crisis in our history?
What gave him such mighty power ? To me the answer is simple : Lin-
coln had sublim.e faith in the people. He walked with and among them.
He recognized the importance and power of an enlightened public senti-
ment and was guided by it. Even amid the vicissitudes of war he
concealed little from public review and inspection. In all he did he invited,
rather than evaded, examination and criticism. He submitted his plans
and purposes, as far as practicable, to public consideration with perfect
frankness and sincerity. There was such homely simplicity in his char-
acter that it could not be hedged in by the pomp of place nor the cere-
monies of high official station. He was so accessible to the public that he
seemed to take the whole people into his confidence. Here, perhaps, was
one secret of his power. The people never lost their confidence in him,
however much they unconsciously added to his personal discomfort and
trials. His patience was almost superhuman, and who will say that he
was mistaken in his treatment of the thousands who thronged continually

295

296 Life of William McKinley

about him? More than once when reproached for permitting visitors to
crowd upon him he asked, in pained surprise : "Why, what harm does
this confidence in men do me? I get only good and inspiration from it."'

HE DISDAINED NO HUMAN BEING.

Horace Greeley once said : "I doubt whether man, woman or child,
white or black, bond or free, virtuous or vicious, ever accosted or reached
forth a hand to Abraham Lincoln and detected in his countenance or
manner any repugnance or shrinking from the proffered contact, any
assumption of superiority or betrayal of disdain."

Frederick Douglass, the orator and patriot, is credited with saying :
"Mr. Lincoln is the only white man with whom I have ever talked, or in
whose presence I have ever been, who did not, consciously or uncon-
sciously, betray to me that he recognized my color."

George Bancroft, the historian, alluding to this characteristic, which
was never so conspicuously manifested as during the darker hours of the
war, beautifully illustrated it in these memorable words : "As a child, in
a dark night, on a rugged way, catches hold of the hand of its father for
guidance and support, Lincoln clung fast to the hand of the people and
moved calmly through the gloom."

His earliest public utterances w-ere marked by this confidence. On
March 9, 1832, when announcing himself as a candidate for representa-
tive in the Illinois legislature, he said that he felt it his duty to make
known to the people his sentiments upon the questions of the day :

"Every man is said to have his peculiar ambition, and, whether it
be true or not, I can say, for one, that I have no other so great as that of
being truly esteemed by my fellow-men by rendering myself worthy of
their esteem. How far I shall succeed in gratifying this ambition is yet
to be developed. I am young and unknown to many of you. I was born
and have ever remained in the humblest w^alks of life. I have no wealthy
or popular relatives or friends to recommend me. My case is thrown
exclusively upon the independent voters of the county. * * * But
if the good people in their wisdom shall see fit to keep me, in the back-
ground, I have been too familiar wnth disappointments to be very much
chagrined."

In this remarkable address — to me alv/ays pathetic — made when he
was only 23. the main elements of Lincoln's character and the qualities
which made his great career possible are revealed with startling distinct-
ness. It expresses the experience of the noble young man of today equally
as well as then. We see therein "that brave old wnsdom of sincerity,"
that oneness in feeling with the common people, and that supreme confi-
dence in them which formed the foundation of his political faith.

Our Martyred President 297

A DEMOCRAT,, LIKE FRANKLIN.

Among the statesmen of America, Lincoln is the true democrat ; and,
Frankhn perhaps excepted, the first great one. He had no illustrious
ancestry, no inherited place or wealth, and none of the prestige, power,
training or culture which were assured to the gentry or landed classes,
of our own colonial times. Nor did Lincoln believe that these classes
respectable and patriotic however they might be, should, as a matter of
abstract right, have the controlling influence in our government. Instead,
he believed in the all-pervading power of public opinion.

Lincoln had little or no instruction in the common school ; but, as the
eminent Dr. Cuyler has said, he was graduated from ''the grand college
of free labor, whose works were the flat boat, the farm and the backwoods
lawyer's office." He had a broad comprehension of the central idea of
popular government. The declaration of independence was his hand-
book; time and again he expressed his belief in freedom and equality. On
July I, 1854, he wrote:

"Most governments have been based, practically, on the denial of the
equal rights of men. Ours began by affirming those rights. They said:
'Some men are too ignorant and vicious to share in government.' 'Prob-
ably so,' said we; 'and by your system you would always keep them
ignorant and vicious. We propose to give all a chance ; and we expected
the weak to grow stronger, the ignorant wiser, and all better and happier
togetlier.' We made the experiment, and the fruit is before us. Look at
it! Think of it! Look at it in its aggregate grandeur, extent of country
and numbers of population."

Lincoln believed in the uplifting influences of free government, and
that by giving all a chance we could get higher average results for the
people than where governments are exclusive and opportunities are
limited to the few. No American ever did so much as he to enlarge these
opportunities, or tear down the barriers which excluded a free participa-
tion in them. In his first message to Congress, at the special session
convening on July 4, 1861, he gave signal evidence of his faith in our
institutions and their elevating infiuences in most impressive language.
He said :

"It may be affirmed without extravagance that the free institutions
we enjoy have developed the powers and improved the condition of our
whole people beyond any example in the world. Of this we now have a
striking and impressive illustration. So large an army as the government
now has on foot was never before known without a soldier in it but who
has taken his place there of his owni free choice. [Then what followed in
his message is. to me, the highest and most touching tribute ever spoken
or written of our matchless volunteer army of 1861-65 by any American

298 Life of William McKinley

statesman, soldier or citizen from that day to this.] : But more than this,
there are many single regiments whose members, one and another, possess
full practical knowledge of all the arts, sciences and professions, and
whatever else, whether useful or elegant, is known to the world; and
there is scarcely one from which there could not be selected a president,
a cabinet, a congress, and perhaps a court, abundantly competent to
administer the government itself."

What a noble, self-sacrificing army of freemen he describes! The
like of it mankind never saw before and will not look upon soon again.
Their service and sacrifice were not in vain — the union is stronger, freer
and better than ever before because they lived, and the peace, fraternity
and harmony, which Lincoln prayed might come, and which he prophesied
would come, are happily here. And now that the wounds of the war
are healed, may we not tonight with grateful hearts resolve, in the words
of Lincoln, that we will "care for him who shall have borne the battle, and
for his widow, and his orphan."

GREW STEADILY TO MEET HIS TASK.

Lincoln's antecedent life seems to have been one of unconscious
preparation for the great responsibilities which were committed to him
in i860. As one of the masses himself, and living with them, sharing
their feelings and sympathizing with their daily trials, their hopes and
aspirations, he was better fitted to lead them than any other man of his
age. He recognizes more clearly than anyone else that the plain people
he met in his daily life and knew so familiarly were, according to the
dictates of justice and our theory of government, its ultimate rulers and
the arbiters of its destiny. He knew this not as a theory, but from his
own personal experience.

Born in poverty, and surrounded by obstacles on every hand seem-
ingly insurmountable but for the intervening hand of Providence, Lin-
coln grew every year into greater and grander intellectual power and
vigor. His life, until he was twelve years old, was spent either in a
"half-faced camp" or cabin. Yet amid such surroundings the boy learned
to read, write and cipher, to think, declaim and speak, in a manner far
beyond his years and time. All his days in the school house "added
together would not make a single year." But every day of his life from
infancy to manhood was a constant drill in the school of nature and
experience. His study of books and newspapers was beyond that of any
other person in his town or neighborhood, and perhaps of his county or
section. He did not read many books, but he learned more from them
than any other reader. It was strength of body as well as of mind that
made Lincoln's career possible. Ill success only spurred him into making

Our Martyred President 299

himself more worthy of trust and confidence. Nothing could daunt him.
He might have but a single tow-linen shirt, or only one pair of jean
pantaloons; he often did not know where his next dollar was to come
from, but he mastered English grammar and composition, arithmetic,
geometry, surveying, logic and law.

How well he mastered the art of expression is shown by the incident
of the Yale professor who heard his Cooper Institute speech and called on
him at his hotel to inquire where he had learned his matchless power as a
public speaker. The modest country lawyer was in turn surprised to be
suspected of possessing unusual talents as an orator, and could only
answer that his sole training had been in the school of experience,

GREAT ORATOR AND POPULAR LEADER.

Eight years' service in the Illinois legislature, two in congress, and
nearly thirty years' political campaigning, in the most exciting period
of American politics, gave scope for the development of his powers,
and that tact, readiness, and self-reliance which were invaluable to a
modest, backward man, such as Lincoln naturally was. Added to these
qualities he had the genius which communizes, which puts a man on
a level, not only with the highest but with the lowest of his kind. By
dint of patient industry, and by using wisely his limited opportunities,
he became the most popular orator, the best political manager, and the
ablest leader of his party in Illinois.

But the best training he had for the presidency, after all, was his
twenty-three years' arduous experience as a lawyer traveling the circuit
of the courts of his district and state. Here he met in forensic contests,
and frequently defeated some of the most powerful legal minds of the
West, In the higher courts he won still greater distinction in the
important cases committed to his charge.

With this preparation it is not surprising that Lincoln entered upon
the presidency peculiarly well equipped for its vast responsibilities.
His contemporaries, however, did not realize this. The leading states-
men of the country were not prepossessed in his favor. They appear
to have had no conception of the remarkable powers latent beneath
that uncouth and rugged exterior. It seemed to them strangely out
of place that the people should at this, the greatest crisis of their history,
intrust the supreme executive power of the nation to one whom they
presumptuously called "this ignorant rail-splitter from the prairies of
Illinois." Many predicted failure from the beginning.

Lincoln was essentially a man of peace. He inherited from his
Quaker forefathers an intense opposition to war. During his brief
service in congress he found occasion more than once to express it.

300 Life of William McKinley

He opposed the Mexican war from principle, but voted men and supplies
after liotilities actually began. In one of his few .speeches in the house
he characterized military glory as "that rainbow that rises in showers
of blood — that serpent that charms but to destroy." When he became
responsible for the welfare of the country he was none the less earnest
for peace. He felt that even in the most righteous cause war is a
fearful thing, and he was actuated by the feeling that it ought not to
be begun except as a last resort, and then only after it had been pre-
cipitated by the enemies of the country. He said in Philadelphia,, on
Feb. 22, 1861 :

"There is no need of bloodshed and war. There is no necessity
for it. I am not in favor of such a course ; and I may say in advance
that there will be no bloodshed unless it is forced upon the government.
The government will not use the force unless force is used against it."

HIS RIVALS BECOME HIS MINISTERS.

In the selection of his cabinet he at once showed his greatness and
magnanimity. His principal rivals for the presidential nomination were
invited to seats in his council chamber. No one but a great ma,n, con-
scious of his own strength, would have done this. It was soon perceived
that his greatness was in no sense obscured by the presence of the
distinguished men who sat about him. The most gifted statesmen of
the country, Seward, Chase, Cameron, Stanton, Blair, Bates, Welles,
Fessenden, and Dennison, some of whom had been leaders in the senate
of the United States, composed that historic cabinet, and the man who
had been sneered at as "the rail-splitter" suffered nothing by such
association and comparison. He was a leader in fact as w^ell as in
name.

Alagnanimity was one of Linicoln's most striking traits. Patriotism
moved him at every step. At the beginning of the war he placed at
the head of three most important military departments three of his
political opponents, Patterson, Butler and McClellan, He did not
propose to make it a partisan war. He sought by every means in his
power to enlist all who were patriots.

In his message of July 4, 1861, he stated his purpose in these words:

*T desire to preserve the government that it may be administered
for all, as it was administered by the men who made it. On the side
of the union it is a struggle to maintain in the world that form and
substance of government whose leading object is to elevate the condi-
tion of men, lift artificial burdens from all shoulder-s and clear the
paths of laudable pursuits for aJl, to afford all an unfettered start
and a fair chance in the race of life. This is the leading object of the
government for whose existence we contend."

Our Martyred President ^01

Many people were impatient at Lincoln's conservatism. He gave
the sonth every chance possible. He pleaded with them with an earnest-
ness that was pathetic. He recognized that the south was not alone
to blame for the existence of slavery, but that the sin was a national
one. He sought to impress upon the south that he would not use his
office as president to take away from them any constitutional right,
great or small.

HE PLEADED FIRST FOR PEACE.

In his inaugural he adklressed the men of the south, as well as the
north, as his "countrymen," one and all, and with an outburst of
indescribable tenderness exclaimed : "We are not enemies, but friends.
We must not be enemies." And then in those wondrously sweet and
touching words which even yet thrill the heart, he said :

"Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds
of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every
battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all
over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the union when again
touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature."

But his words were unheeded. The mighty war came with its
dreadful train. Knowing no wrong, he dreaded ho evil for himself.
He had done all he could to save the country by peaceful means. He
had entreated and expostulated, now he would do and dare. He had
in words of solemn import warned the men of the south. He had
appealed to their patriotism by the sacred memories of the battlefields
of the revolution, on which the patriot blood of their ancestors had been
so bravely shed, not to break up the union. Yet all in vain. "Both
parties deprecated war; but one would make war rather than let the
nation survive; and the other would accept war rather than let it
perish. And the war came."

Lincoln did all he could to avert it, but there was no hesitation on
his part when the sword of rebellion flashed from its scabbard. He was
from that moment until the close of his life unceasingly devoted and
consecrated to the great purpose of saving the union. All other matters
he regarded as trivial, and every movement, of whatever character,
whether important or unimportant of itself, was bent to that end.

The world now regards with wonder the infinite patience, gentle-
ness and kindness with which he bore the terrible burdens of that four
years' struggle. Humane, forgiving and long suffering himself, he was
always especially tender and considerate of the poor, and in his treat-
ment of them was full of those "kind little acts which are of the same
blood as great and holy deeds." As Charles Sumner so well said :
"With him as President, the idea of republican institiitions- where no

302 Life of William McKinley

place is too high for the humblest, was perpetually manifest, so that
his simple presence was a proclamation of the equality of all men."

During the whole of the struggle he was a tower of strength to the
union. Whether in defeat or victory, he kept right on, dismayed at
nothing, and never to be diverted from the pathway of duty. Always
cool and determined, all learned to gain renewed courage, calmness
and wisdom from him, and to lean upon his strong arm for support.
The proud designation "Father of His Country," was not more appro-
priately bestowed upon Washington, than the affectionate title "Father
Abraham" was given to Lincoln by the soldiers and loyal people of
the north.

HIS EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION.

The crowning glory of Lincoln's administration, and the greatest
executive act in American history, was his immortal proclamation of
emancipation. Perhaps more clearly than any one else Lincoln had
realized years before he was called to the presidency that the country
could not continue half slave and half free. He declared it before
Seward proclaimed the "irrepressible conflict." The contest between
freedom and slavery was inevitable ; it was written in the stars. The
nation must be either all slave or all free. Lincoln with almost super-
natural prescience foresaw it. His prophetic vision is manifested through
all his utterances, notably in the great debate between himself and
Douglas. To him was given the duty and responsibility of making
that great classic of liberty, the declaration of independence, no longer
an empty promise, but a glorious fulfillment.

Many long and thorny steps were to be taken before this great act
of justice could be performed. Patience and forbearance had to be
exercised. It had to be demonstrated that the union could be saved
in no other way. Lincoln, much as he abhorred slavery, felt that his
chief duty was to save the union, under the constitution, and within
the constitution. He did not assume the duties of his great office with
the purpose of abolishing slavery, nor changing the constitution, but as
a servant of the constitution and the laws of the country then existing.
Li a speech delivered in Ohio in 1859 he said : "The people of the United
States are the rightful masters of both congress and the courts — not to
overthrow the constitution, but to overthrow the men who would over-
throw the constitution."

This was the principle which governed him, and which he applied
in his official conduct when he reached the presidency. We now know
that he had emancipation constantly in his mind's eye for nearly two
years after his first inauguration. It is true he said at the start : "I
believe I have no lawful right to interfere with slavery where it now

Our Martyred President 303

exists, and have no intention of doing so" ; and that the pubUc had httle
reason to think he was meditating general emancipation until he issued
his preliminary proclamation Sept. -22, 1862.

Just a month before, exactly, he had written to the editor of the
New York Tribune:

"My paramount object is to save the union, and not either to save
or destroy slavery. If I could save the union without freeing any slave,
I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would
do it; and if I could do it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I
would also do that."

HE SAW THE PURPOSES OF GOD.

The difference in his thought and purpose about "the divine institu-
tion" is very apparent in these two expressions. Both were made in
absolute honor and sincerity. Public sentiment had undergone a great
change, and Lincoln, valiant defender of the constitution that he was
and faithful tribune of the people that he always had been, changed
with the people. The war had brought them and him to a nearer
realization of absolute dependence upon a higher power, and had quick-
ened his conceptions of duty more acutely than the public could realize.
The purposes of God, working through the ages, were perhaps more
clearly revealed to him than to any other.

Besides, it was as he himself once said : "It is a quality of revolu-
tions not to go by old times or old laws, but to break up both and make
new ones." He was "naturally anti-slavery," and the determination
he formed when, as a young man, he witnessed an auction in the slave
shambles of New Orleans, never forsook him. It is recorded how his
soul burned with indignation, and that he then exclaimed : "If ever I
get a chance to hit that thing, I'll hit it hard." He "hit it hard" when,
as a member of the Illinois legislature, he protested that "the institution
of slavery is founded on both injustice and bad policy. He "hit it hard"
when, as a member of congress, he "voted for the Wilmot proviso as good
as forty times." He "hit it hard" when he stumped his state against the
Kansas-Nebraska bill, and on the direct issue carried Illinois in favor
of anti-slavery by a majority of 4,414 votes. He "hit it hard" when he
approved the law abolishing slavery in the District of Columbia, an
antislavery measure that he had voted.for in congress. He "hit it hard"
when he signed the acts abolishing slavery in all the territories, and for
the repeal of the fugitive slave law. But it still remained for him to
strike slavery its death blow. He did that in his glorious proclamation
of freedom.

304 Life of William McKinley

VALUE OF THE BLACK SOLDIERS.

It was in this light that Lincoln himself viewed these great events.
He wrote to a mass meeting of unconditional union men at Springfield,
ni., Aug. 26, 1863, as follows:

"The emancipation policy and the use of colored troops constitute
the heaviest blow yet felt to the rebellion, and at least one of these
important successes could not have been achieved when it was but for
the aid of black soldiers. * * * The job was a great national
one, and let none be banned who bore an honorable part in it. * * ^•
P'eace does not appear so distant as it did. I hope it will come soon,
and come to stay ; and so come as to be worth the keeping in all future
time. It will then have proved that among free men there can be no
successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet, and that they who take
such appeal are sure to lose their case and pay the cost. And then there
will be some black men who can remember that with silent tongue, and
clenched teeth, and steady eye, and well-poised bayonet, they have helped
mankind on to this great consummation, while I fear there will be some
white ones unable to forget that with malignant heart and deceitful
speech they strove to hinder it."

Secretary Seward tells how when he carried the historic proclamation
to the President for signature at noon on the ist day of January, 1863,
he said : "I have been shaking hands since 9 o'clock this morning, and
my right hand is almost paralyzed. If my name ever goes into history,
it will be for this act, and my whole soul is in it. If my hand trembles
when I sign the proclamation all who examine the document hereafter
will say, 'he hesitated.' " He turned to the table, took up his pen, and
slowly, firmly wrote that 'Abraham Lincoln' with which the whole world
is now familiar. Then he looked up and said : "That will do."

In all the long years of slavery agitation, unlike any of the other
antislavery leaders, Lincoln always carried the people with him. In
1854 Illinois cast loose from her old democratic moorings and followed
his leadership in a most emphatic protest against the repeal of the
Missouri compromise. In 1858 the people of Illinois indorsed his
opposition to the aggressions of slavery, in a state usually democratic,
even against so popular a leader as "the Little Giant." In i860 the
whole country indorsed his position on slavery, even when the people
were continually harrangued that* his election meant the dissolution of
the union. During the war the people advanced with him, step by step,
to its final overthrow. Indeed, in the election of 1864, the people not
only indorsed emancipation, but went far toward recognizing the political
equality of the negro. They heartily justified the President in having
enlisted colored soldiers to fight, side by side, with the white man in

D
O
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w
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Our Martyred President 305

the noble cause of union and liberty. Aye, they did more, they indorsed
his position on another and vastly more important phase of the race
problem. They approved his course as President in reorganizing the
government of Louisiana, and a hostile press did not fail to call atten-
tion to the fact that this meant eventually negro suffrage in that state.

Perhaps, however, it was not known then that Lincoln had written
the new free state governor on March 13, 1864, as follows:

"Now you are about to have a convention, which, among other
things, will probably define the elective franchise. I barely suggest
for your private consideration, whether some of the colored people may
not be let in — as, for instance, the very intelligent, and especially those
who have fought gallantly in our ranks. They would probably help,
in some trying time to come, to keep the jewel of liberty within the
family of freedom."

IMMORTAL GETTYSBURG SPEECH.

Lincoln had that happy, peculiar habit, which few public men have
attained, of looking away from the deceptive and misleading influences
about him, and none are more deceptive than those of public life in our
captitals, straight into the hearts of the people. He could not be deceived
by the self-interested host of eager counselors who sought to enforce
their own particular views upon him as the voice of the country. He
chose to determine for himself what the people were thinking about and
wanting him to do, and no man ever lived who was a more accurate
judge of their opinions and wishes.

The battle of Gettysburg turned the scale of the war in favor of
the union, and it has always seemed to me most fortunate that Lincoln
declared for emancipation before rather than after that decisive contest.
A later proclamation might have been constructed as a tame and cowardly
performance, not a challenge of truth to error for mortal combat. The
ground on which the battle was fought is held sacred by every friend
of freedom. But important as the battle itself was the dedication of it
as a national cemetery is celebrated for a grander thing. The words
Lincoln spoke there will live "until time shall be no more," through
all eternity. Well may they be forever preserved on tablets of bronze
upon the spot where he spoke, but how infinitely better it would be if they
could find a permanent lodging in the soul of every American !

USED POWER WITH MODERATION.

Lincoln was a man of moderation. He was neither an autocrat
nor a tyrant. If he moved slowly sometimes, it was because it was
better to move slowly, and, like the successful general that he was,

3o6 Life of William McKinley

he was only waiting for his reserves to come up. Possessing ahnost
unhmited power, he yet carried himself like one of the humblest of men.
He weighed every subject. He considered and reflected upon every
phase of public duty. He got the average judgment of the plain people.
He had a high sense of justice, a clear understanding of the rights of
others, and never needlessly inflicted an injury upon any man.

He said in response to a serenade, Nov. lo, 1864, just after his
triumphant election for a second term to the great office of President:

"Now that the election is over, may not all having a common interest
reunite in a common effort to save our common country? For my own
part, I have striven and shall strive to avoid placing any obstacle in the
way. So long as I have been here I have not willingly planted a thorn
in any man's bosom. While I am deeply sensible to the high compli-
ment of a re-election, and duly grateful, as I trust, to Almighty God
for having directed my countrymen to a right conclusion, as I think, for
their own good, it adds nothing to my satisfaction that any other man
may be disappointed or pained by the result."

It is pleasant to note that in the very last public speech by President
Lincoln, on April 11, 1865, he uttered uoIdIc sentiments of charity
and good will similar to those of his sublime second inaugural, which
were of peculiar interest to the people of the south. In discussing the
question of reconstruction, he said :

"We all agree that the seceded states, so called, are out of their
proper practical relation with the union, and that the sole object of the
government, civil and military, in regard to those states, is to again
get them into that proper practical relation. I believe that it is not only
possible, but in fact, easier, to do this without deciding or even con-
sidering whether these states have ever been out of the union, than
with it. Finding themselves safely at home, it would be utterly imma-
terial whether they had ever been abroad. Let us all join in doing the
acts necessary to restoring the proper practical relations between these
states and the union, and each forever after innocently indulging his own
opinion whether in doing the acts he brought the states from without
into the union, or only gave them proper assistance, they never having
been out of it."

CLEARLY THE GREATEST MAN OF HIS TIME.

Mr. President, it is not difficult to place a correct estimate upon the
character of Lincoln. He was the greatest man of his time, especially
approved of God for the w^ork He gave him to do. Llistory abundantly
proves his superiority as a leader, and establishes his constant reliance
upon a higher power for guidance and support. The tendency of this
age is to exaggeration, but of Lincoln certainly none have spoken more
highly than those who knew him best.

Our Martyred President 307

A distinguished orator of to-day (John J. Ingalls, of Kansas,) has
said: "Lincohi surpassed all orators in eloquence; all diplomatists in
wisdom; all statesmen in foresight, and the most ambitious in fame."

This is in accord with the estimate of Stanton, who pronounced him
"the most perfect ruler of men the world had ever seen."

Seward, too, declared Lincoln "a man of destiny, with character
made and molded by divine power to save a nation from perdition."

Oliver Wendell Holmes characterized him as "the true representa-
tive of this continent ; an entirely public man ; father of his country ; the
pulse of twenty millions throbbing in his heart, the thought of their
minds articulated by his tongue."

Bancroft wisely observed : "Lincoln thought always of mankind,
as well as his own country, and served human nature itself; he finished
a work which all time cannot overthrow."

Sumner said that in Lincoln "the west spoke to the east, pleading for
human rights, as declared by our fathers."

Horace Greeley, in speaking of the events which led up to and
embraced the rebellion, declared : "Other men were helpful, and nobly
did their part; yet, looking back through the lifting- mists of those seven
eventful, tragic, trying glorious years, I clearly discern the one provi-
dential leader, the. indispensable hero of the great drama, Abraham
Lincoln."

James Russell Lowell was quick to perceive and proclaim Lincoln's
greatness. In December, 1863, in a review of the "President's Policy,"
in the Atlantic Monthly, he said : "Perhaps none of our Presidents since
Washington has stood so firm in the confidence of the people as Lincoln,
after three years' stormy administration. * * * /^ profound com-
mon sense is the best genius for statesmanship. Hitherto the wisdom
of the President's measures has been justified by the fact that they
always resulted in more firmly uniting public opinion."

Lincoln is certainly the most sagacious and far-seeing statesman
in the annals of American history. His entire public life justifies this
estimate of him. It is notable that his stand on all public questions
in his earlier as well as his later career stamp him as the wisest exponent
of political truths we have ever had.

WISE WORDS FOR THE PRESENT DAY.

Witnessing the government as we do to-day, with its debt-increasing,
bond-issuing, gold-depleting, labor-destroying low-tariff policy, with
what mighty force the words of Lincoln, written more than half a century
ago, come to us in this hour and emergency! They read as if written

3o8 Life of William McKinley

for the living present, not for the forgotten past. Why, do you know
that as far back as March i, 1843, at a whig meeting in Springfield, Mr.
Lincoln offered a series of resolutions relating to the tariff which could
well be accepted here to-night? They were then instantly and unani-
mously adopted, and Mr. Lincoln was himself appointed to prepare
an "Address to the People of the State" upon the subjects which they
embraced. Let me read from this address his profound observations
upon tariff and taxation and their relation to the condition of the country.

He said :

"The first of our resolutions declares a tariff of duties upon foreign
importations, producing sufficient revenue for the support of the general
government, and so adjusted as to protect American industry, to be
indispensably necessary to the prosperity of the American people; and
the second declares direct taxation for a national revenue to be improper.

"For several years past the revenues of the government have been
unequal to its expenditures, and consequently loan after loan, some-
times direct and sometimes indirect in form, has been resorted to. By
this means a new national debt has been created, and is still growing
on up with rapidity fearful to contemplate^ — a rapidity only reasonably
to be expected in time of war. ' This state of things has been produced
by a prevailing- unwillingness either to increase the tariff or to resort to
direct taxation. But the one or the other must come. Coming expendi-
tures must be met, and the present debt must be paid, and money cannot
always be borrowed for these objects. The system of loans is but tem-
porary in its nature, and must soon explode. It is a system not only
ruinous while it lasts, but one that must soon fail and leave us destitute.
As an individual who undertakes to live by borrowing soon finds his
original means devoured by interest, and, next, no one left to borrow
from, so must it be with the government.

"We repeat, then, that a tariff sufficient for revenue, or a direct tax,
must soon be resorted to, and, indeed, we believe this alternative is now
denied by no one. But which system shall be adopted? Some of our
opponents, in theory, admit the propriety of a tariff for a revenue; but
even they will not in practice vote for such a tariff; while others boldly
advocate direct taxation. Inasmuch, therefore, as some of them boldly
advocate direct taxation, and all the rest — or so nearly all as to make
exceptionjipjieedless — refuse to adopt the tariff, we think it doing them
no injustice to class them all as advocates of direct taxation. Indeed,
we believe they are only delaying an open avowal of the system till they
can assure themselves that the people will tolerate it. Let us then briefly
compare the two systems. The tariff is the cheaper system, because
the duties, being collected in large parcels at a few commercial points,

Our Martyred President 309

will require comparatively few officers in their collection, while by the
direct tax system the land must be literally covered with assessors and
collectors, going forth like swarms of Egyptian locusts, devouring every
blade of grass and other green thing.

"By this system (the protective) the man who contents himself
to live upon the products of his own country pays nothing at all. Surely
our country is extensive enough and its products abundant and varied
enough to answer all the real wants of its people. In short, by the
protective system the burden of revenue falls almost entirely upon the
wealthy and luxurious few, while the substantial and laboring many
who live at home and upon home products, go entirely free.

"By the direct tax system none can escape. However strictly the
citizen may exclude from his premises all foreign luxuries — fine clothes,
fine silks, rich wines, golden chains and diamond rings — still for the
possession of his house, his barn, and his homespun, he is to be per-
petually haunted and harassed by the tax-gatherer. With these views
we leave it to be determined whether we or our opponents are the more
truly democratic on the subject."

WILL REAFFIRM PROTECTION IN 1 896.

"Perhaps it is not entirely accidental that these views of Mr. Lincoln
found almost literal expression in the republican national platform of
i860. Nor is it strange that this year, as in i860, no chart is needed
to mark the republican position upon this great economic cjuestion. The
whole world knew a year in advance of its utterance what the republican
platform of i860 would be, and the whole world knows now, and has
known for a year past, what the republican platform of 1896 will be.

Then the battle was to arrest the spread of slave labor in America ;
now it is to prevent the increase of illy paid and degraded free labor in
America. The platform of 1896, I say' is already written — written in
the hearts and the homes of the masses of our countrymen. It has
been thought out around hundreds of thousands of American firesides —
literally wrought out by the new conditions and harsh experiences of the
past three years.

On the great questions still unsettled, or in dispute between the
dominant parties, we stand now just as we did in i860, for republican
principles are unalterable. On the subject of protection to American
labor and American interests we can reaffirm the Lincoln platform of
i860. It needs neither amendment nor elaboration. Indeed, we could
begin the platform of 1896 in the exact words with which the fathers
of the republican party began the platform of i860. Its first plank,
you will remember, reads as follows :

3IO Life of William McKinley

"Resolved, That the history of the nation during the last four
years has fully established the- propriety and necessity of the organ-
ization and perpetuation of the republican party, and that the causes
which called it into existence are permanent in their nature, and now,
more than ever before, demand its peaceful and constitutional triumph."

This was said near the close of the last democratic administration,
which for a time controlled all branches of the national government.
With what truth it applies to the present democratic administration,
which for two years following March 4, 1893, again had control of all
branches of the national government.

THE LINCOLN TARIFF PLATFORM OF 1860.

Now let me read the Lincoln platform on the tariff, adopted on May
17, i860, by the second republican national convention, and I submit
whether it does not express the sentiment of the great majority of the
people of Illinois, and of the whole country, even better to-day than
it did then. Here is what it said :

"Resolved, That while providing revenue for the support of the
general government by duties on imports, sound policy requires such
an adjustment of these imports as to encourage the development of
the industrial interests of the whole country; and we commend that
policy of national exchanges which secures to the workingmen liberal
wages, to agriculture remunerative prices, to mechanics and manufac-
turers an adequate reward for their skill, labor and enterprise, and
to the nation commercial prosperity and independence."

Better protection no republican could ask or desire ; and poorer none
should advocate or accept ! We are faithfully wedded to the great
principle of protection by every tie of party fealty and affection, and
it is dearer to us now than ever before. Not only is it dearer to us
as republicans, but it has more devoted supporters among the great
masses of the American people, irrespective of party, than at any previ-
ous period in our national history. It is everywhere recognized and
indorsed as the great, masterful, triumphant American principle — the
key to our prosperity in business, the safest prop to the treasury of
the United States, and the bulwark of our national independence and
financial honor.

The question of the continuance or abandonment of our protective
system has been one great, overshadowing, or vital question in Ameri-
can politics ever since Mr. Cleveland opened the contest in December,
1887, to which the lamented James G. Blaine made swift reply from
across the sea, and it will continue the issue until a truly American
policy, for the good of America, is firmly established and perpetuated.

Our Martyred President 311

The fight will go on, and must go on, until the American system is
everywhere recognized, until all nations come to understand and respect
it as distinctly, and all Americans come to honor or love it as dearly
as they do the American flag. God grant the day may soon come when
all partisan contention over it is forever at an end !

The republican party is competent to carry tliis policy into effect.
Whenever there is anything to be done for this country it is to the
republican party we must look to have it done. We are not contend-
ing for any particular tariff law, or laws, or for any special schedules,
or rates, but for the great principle — the American protective policy —
the temporary overthrow of which has brought distress and ruin to
every part of our beloved country.

WILL UPHOLD AMERICAN LABOR.

It may be asked what the next republican tariff' law will provide. I
cannot tell you. 1 cannot tell you what the schedules and rates will be,
but they will measure the difference between American and European
conditions — and v/ill moreover be fully adequate to protect ourselves
from the invasion of our markets by oriental products to the injury of
American labor — and will in no case be too low to protect and exalt
American labor, and promote and increase American production.

I cannot better answer this grave inquiry than by an illustration of
Mr. Lincoln's. Some one asked him, "How long a man's legs ought to
be." He said, "That is a very serious question, and I have given much
thought to it a great many times. Some should be longer and some
shorter; but I Avant to tell you that a man's legs ought always to be
long enough to reach from his body to the ground." And so I tell
you, my inquiring free trade friend, that the legs of the next republi-
can tariff law will be long enough to firmly support the American body
politic; sustain the public treasury; lift up our national credit, and
uphold the dignity and independence of American labor, and the enter-
prises and occupations of the American people.

No one need be in any doubt about what the republican party stands
for. Its own history makes that too palpable and clear to admit of
doubt. It stands for a reunited and recreated nation, based upon free'
and honest elections in every township, county, city, district and state
in this great American union. It stands for the American fireside,
and the flag of the nation. It stands for the American farm, the Amer-
ican factory and the prosperity of all the American people. It stands
for a reciprocity that reciprocates and which does not yield up to
another country a single day's labor that belongs to the American work-
ing-men. It stands for international agreements which get as much

312 Life of William McKinley

as they give, upon terms of mutual advantage. It stands for an ex-
change of our surplus home products for such foreign products as we
consume, but do not produce. It stands for the reciprocity of Blaine;
for the reciprocity of Harrison; for the restoration and extension of
the principle embodied in the reciprocity provision of the republican
tariff of 1890. It stands for a foreign policy dictated by and imbued
with a spirit that is ger ainely American; for a policy that will revive
the national spirit which carried us proudly through the earlier years
of the century. It stands for such a policy with all foreign nations
as will insure both to us and them justice, impartiality, fairness, good
faith, dignity and honor. It stands for the Monroe doctrine as Mon-
roe himself proclaimed it, about which there is no division whatever
among the American people. It stands now, as ever, for honest money,
and a chance to earn it by honest toil. It stands for a currency of gold,
silver and paper, with which to measure our exchanges that shall be as
sound as the government and as untarnished as its honor.

The republican party would as soon think of lowering the flag of
our country as to contemplate with patience or without protest and
opposition any attempt to degrade or corrupt the medium of exchanges
among our people. It can be relied upon in the future as in the past,
to supply our country with the best money ever known, gold, silver,
and paper, good the world over. It stands for a commercial policy
that will whiten every sea with the sails of American vessels, flying
the American flag, and that will protect the flag wherever it floats.
It stands for a system which will give the United States the balance
of trade with every competing nation in the world. It is for a fiscal
poHcy opposed to debts and deficiencies in time of peace, and favors
the return of the government to a debt-paying, and opposes the contin-
uance of a debt-making poHcy.

PARTY WILL HOLD TO LINCOLN'S ADVICE.

And, gentlemen of the Marquette Club, let me tell you that the
republican party, true to the advice and example of the immortal Lin-
coln, is going to make the campaign this year upon its own ground,
not upon its opponent's. That is to say, the republicans of the country
are not going to help the democratic leaders obscure the issue on
which their party has been wrecked and the administration stranded,
by taking up every new incident about which a hue and cry may be
raised. On the contrary, they will not be led off by side issues, but
they will everywhere courageously insist that the people in November
shall judge the administration and its party by their works and not by
any new and boastful protestations by them. They v^ill give due credit

Our Martyred President 313

for any sporadic outburst of patriotic fervor for our rights in foreign
countries that the administration may choose to indulge in and rejoice
that it is at last on the right side of a great question, which is where
the republicans have always been. But the ship of state shall not be
lured into shallow waters by false lights. No new-born zeal for Amer-
ican rights, or the national honor, from any quarter whatever, can
raise an issue with the grand old republican party which for forty
years has steadfastly maintained it both at home and abroad. The new
convert belongs to our ranks and he is welcome, but he should remem-
ber that he cannot put patriotism at issue with the party which has
been the very embodiment of patriotism from its birth to the present
hour.

Gentlemen of the Marquette Club, and my fellow citizens, let us
cherish the principles of our party and consecrate ourselves anew to
their triumph. We have but to put our trust in the people; we have
but to keep in close touch with the people ; we have but to hearken to
the voice of the people, as it comes to us from every quarter; we have
but to paint on our banners the sentiment the people have everywhere
expressed at every election during the last three years — "Patriotism,
I)rotcction and prosperity," to win another most glorious and decisive
republican national victory.

WASHINGTON AND LINCOLN.

The greatest names in American history are Washington and Lin-
coln. One is forever associated with the independence of the states
and formation of the federal union; the other with universal freedom
and the preservation of that union. Washington enforced the declara-
tion of independence as against England; Lincoln proclaimed its ful-
fillment not only to a downtrodden race in America, but to all people
for all time, who may seek the protection of our flag. These illustrious
men achieved grander results for mankind within a single century —
from 1775 to 1865 — than any other man ever accomplished in all the
years since first the flight of time began. Washington engaged in no
ordinary revolution. With him it was not who should rule, but what
should rule. He drew his sword, not for a change of rulers upon an
established throne, but to establish a new government, which should
acknowledge no throne but the tribune of the people. Lincoln accepted
war to save the union, the safeguard of our liberties, and re-established
it on "indestructible foundations" as forever "one and indivisible."
To quote his own grand words :

"Now we are contending that this nation under God shall have a
new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the peo-
ple, for the people, shall not perish from the earth,"

314 Life of William McKinley

Each lived to accomplish his appointed task. Each received the
unbounded gratitude of the people of his time, and each is held in
great and ever increasing reverence by posterity. The fame of each
will never die; it will grow with the ages, because it is based upon
imperishable service to humanity — not to the people of a single gen-
eration or country, but to the whole human family, wherever scattered,
forever.

The present generation knows Washington only from history, and
by that alone can judge him. Lincoln we know by history also, but
thousands are still living who participated in the great events in which
he was leader and master. Many of his contemporaries survived him;
some are here yet in almost every locality. So Lincoln is not far re-
moved from us. Lideed, he may be said to be still known to the mil-
lions, not surrounded by the mists of antiquity nor by a halo of idol-
atry that is impenetrable.

He never was inaccessible to the people. Thousands carry with
them yet the words which he spoke in their hearing; thousands remem-
ber the pressure of his hand, and I remember, as though it were but
yesterday, and thousands of my comrades will recall, how, wdien he
reviewed the Army of the Potomac, immediately after the battle of
Antietam, his indescribably sad, thoughtful, far-seeing expression pierced
every man's soul. Nobody could keep the people away from him, and
when they came to him he would suffer no one to drive them back. So
it is that an unusually large number of the American people came to
know this great man, and that he is still so well remembered by them.
It cannot be said that they are mistaken about him or that they mis-
interpreted his character and greatness.

LIVING MEN LINK HIM TO TODAY.

Men are still connected with the government who served during his
entire administration. There are at least two senators, and perhaps
twice as many representatives, who participated in his first inaugura-
tion ; men who stood side by side with him in trying duties of his admm-
istration, and have been without interruption in one branch or another
of the public service ever since,. The Supreme Court of the United States
still has among its members one whom Lincoln appointed, and so of
other branches of the federal judiciary. His faithful private secretaries
are still alive and have rendered posterity a great service in their his-
tory of Lincoln and his time. They have told the story of his life
and public services with such entire frankness and fidelity as to exhibit
to the world "the very innercourts of his soul."

This host of witnesses, without exception, agree as to the true nobil-

Our Martyred President 315

ity and intellectual greatness of Lincoln. All proudly claim for Lincoln
the highest abilities and the most distinguished and self-sacrilicing pat-
riotism. Lincoln taught them, and has taught us, that no party or
partisan can escape responsibility to the people ; that no party advantage
or presumed party advantage, should ever swerve us from the plain
path of duty, which is ever tlie path of honor and distinction. He
emphasized his words by his daily life and deeds. He showed to the
world by his lofty example, as well as by precept and maxim, that there
are times when the voice of partisanship should be hushed and that of
patriotism only be heeded. He taught that a good service done for
the country, even in aid of an unfriendly administration, brings to the
men and the party who rise above the temptation of temporary parti-
san advantage a lasting gain in the respect and confidence of the peo-
ple. He showed that such patriotic devotion is usually rewarded, not
only with retention in power and the consciousness of duty well and
bra

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Full text of "Life of William McKinley, our martyred president, with short biographies of Lincoln and Garfield, and a comprehensive life of President Roosevelt, containing the masterpieces of McKinley's eloquence, and a history of anarchy, its purposes and results"

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